GE places Atlantic France at the forefront of marine renewable industry

GE Renewable Energy installed its business headquarters in Nantes and a factory near Saint-Nazaire. The growth of the company benefits Atlantic France which is once again the top French region for the amount of marine renewable professionals. 

In the French MRE sector, one in three jobs is in Atlantic France! The 2021 report of the Observatoire des énergies de la mer (Observatory of the energies of the sea) confirmed the leadership of Atlantic France with 1,612 jobs. This represents 33% of the total French workforce in marine renewables.

Compared to 2020, more than 500 additional jobs were created. Mainly for three stakeholders: the offshore wind farm being installed off Saint-Nazaire coast, Chantiers de l’Atlantique which is building offshore electrical substations and the company GE Renewable Energy.

Aiming for 600 MRE experts in GE Renewable Energy

250 people are working for GE Renewable Energy in Nantes, where the company has settled its global offshore business headquarters. Another 300 employees are operating in the factory dedicated to marine renewables located in Saint-Nazaire, and 40 job openings are planned. 

The prototype of GE’s groundbreaking wind turbine Haliade-X is now running at 14 MW and there is a lot of demand. The company is therefore investing €60 million to expand the factory and increase the production rate. 

“We are aiming to recruit 40 people in various functions for projects in France and abroad. The biggest developers of offshore projects trust us, and our order book is now over 5.7 GW, which represents the construction of 400 offshore wind turbines within the next 4 to 5 years”, said Steven Curet, President of GE offshore France, in local media La Lettre API. 

For example, 62 Haliade will be installed in Vineyard Wind 1, the first utility-scale offshore wind installation in the US.