Mitsubishi Heavy Sees Billion-Dollar Opportunity in U.S. Northeast Wind

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By Joe Carroll (Bloomberg) — Wind-power demand in the U.S. Northeast may spur $1 billion or more in orders for offshore towers, according to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America Inc. executives.

Planned auctions for wind power in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut probably will require construction of as many as 1,000 offshore towers, said Takajiro Ishikawa, senior executive vice president at Mitsubishi Heavy’s U.S. unit.

“This could easily be a billion-dollar business, even if we had to split it with Siemens,” Ishikawa said in a meeting with reporters on Tuesday in Houston.

The company, which makes everything from forklifts to space rockets, opened an office in Boston last month with joint-venture partner Vestas Wind Systems A/S to focus on the East Coast market. The partnership is working on obtaining permits to haul in thye massive turbine for the 800-megawatt wind farm it’s building off Martha’s Vineyard, he said.

Federal leases for offshore wind sites pulled in a record $405.1 million in bids in December as developers including Equinor Wind US LLC and a Royal Dutch Shell venture snapped up tracts off the Massachusetts coast.

© 2019 Bloomberg L.P

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