A federal judge has ruled that GE may not sell its Haliade-X offshore wind turbine in the U.S. The ruling came months after a jury sided with Siemens Gamesa in a patent infringement lawsuit between the two manufacturing giants.
In his September 7 decision, District Judge William Young said Siemens Gamesa had shown "irreparable harm" caused by the GE infringement, granting a permanent injunction. He also said that Siemens Gamesa proved the loss of significant market share to GE.
"Allowing GE to continue its infringing conduct would surely chill advancement of wind turbine and renewable energy technology and thus would defy the public interest," the judge wrote.
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Judge Young factored in "other public interests" in his ruling, including the "rapidly developing climate crisis."
GE will be allowed to supply its Haliade-X offshore wind turbine to two offshore wind projects already underway in the U.S. The judge also said that GE could "design around" the patent in the future.
The 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 project offshore Massachusetts and the 1.1 GW Ocean Wind 1 project offshore New Jersey had both selected the Haliade-X turbine.
As part of the jury's June decision, GE must pay a royalty of $30,000 per megawatt.
GE Renewable Energy said in a statement that it was exploring "all legal options," including an appeal of the judge's ruling.
The State of New Jersey said in a court brief that applying the injunction to the Ocean Wind 1 project would have "detrimental economic effects" to the state's emerging offshore wind construction and service industry, and threaten its greenhouse gas policy objectives.
Siemens Gamesa sued GE in Massachusetts in 2020, claiming the GE's Haliade-X turbines infringed its patents covering wind turbine technology. The judge's ruling said that Siemens Gamesa had shown that the patent GE infringed provided a key element for wind turbine functionality, allowing for larger, more reliable motors.
The case is Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy A/S v. General Electric Co, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 1:21-cv-10216.
