Vestas lands gigascale SunZia in record US wind order

Vestas on Wednesday announced a firm 1.1GW order for 242 V163-4.5MW turbines from Pattern Energy for its SunZia project in the state of New Mexico, the vendor’s largest-ever contract in the US wind market.

The order includes supply, delivery, and commissioning of the turbines, as well as a multi-year service agreement, designed to ensure optimised turbine performance.

“Reaching this monumental order milestone is a testament to Vestas' unwavering dedication to advancing clean energy solutions across the US,” said Laura Beane, president of Vestas North America, adding the OEM is committed to “driving the transition to a sustainable energy future” in the world’s second largest wind market.

The order is the first of more than 1GW for Vestas in the US where it has either been number one or a strong number two during much of the past 20 years. Presently, it is second behind GE Renewable Energy.

The order follows Vestas’ recent commitment to invest $40m to expand its manufacturing capacity for the V163-4.5 turbine at two Colorado factories. Up to 1,000 local employees are being hired to support this effort.

Colorado is adjacent to New Mexico. Logistics and transportation costs have surged this decade, in part due to inflation and worker shortages since the Covid pandemic.

Armistead said the turbines will have nameplate capacity in a range of 3.5MW to 5MW, reflecting the broader US industry trend toward higher power ratings onshore.

“Our turbine order with Vestas is a huge step towards building the largest wind power facility in the country,” he said in a statement. “The majority of the Vestas turbines will be made right here in the United States, helping SunZia create thousands of new jobs in manufacturing and construction.”

The V163-4.5 turbine is based on the proven 4MW platform and leverages an established supply chain. The design accounts for US conditions, addressing transportation, installation, and operational aspects to support the rapid deployment of wind energy in response to the growing demand, according to Vestas.

The OEM claims to have received almost 4.5 GW of orders of its latest technology with the majority of those this quarter.

The SunZia order cements Vestas as the US leader in the fast-growth 4MW platform segment which can include models with nameplate capacities up to 5MW. Nordex and Siemens Gamesa are the other closest players, although GE is competing with its Cypress turbine which has a 4.8MW low-end power rating.

With today's announcement, market attention now focuses on 2.4GW of turbine contracts that Pattern has pending and 3GW of future orders that developer Power Company of Wyoming will award for its Chokecherry and Sierra Madre megaproject there.

Those projects are the largest onshore for wind outside of China and qualify for lucrative federal tax credits available through the August 2022 climate law.