First wind energy deals in countries including Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan and Croatia.
Global fleet producing more than 100 terawatt hours of renewable energy, enough equivalent energy to power approximately 28 million European households for a year.
Continuing investment of more than $2 billion to expand platform of brilliant wind turbines, software.
Powering the people who power the world, GE (NYSE: GE) today celebrated its 25,000th wind turbine installation—a milestone for the company which now has more than 38 gigawatts (GW) of installed wind turbines around the world.
Altogether, GE’s 25,000 wind turbines generate the equivalent energy needed to charge 25 billion smartphones or provide the electricity needed for approximately 28 million European households for a year.
“We are thrilled to be reaching this milestone alongside our customers,” said Anne McEntee, president and chief executive officer of GE’s renewable energy business. “Through continued technology investment and collaboration with global developers like Energiekontor, wind will continue advancing as a competitive source of renewable energy around the world.”
GE reached the milestone during the installation of a 2.75-103 wind turbine with wind developer Energiekontor at the Uthlede wind farm in Lower Saxony, Germany, earlier this month. The Uthlede wind farm will contain twelve 2.75-103 GE wind turbines—developed and manufactured at the European headquarters of GE’s renewable energy business in Salzbergen, Germany—and will generate the equivalent power needed for approximately 20,000 European households.
“We congratulate GE on an impressive performance record,” said Günter Lammers, founder and board member of Energiekontor. “Energiekontor has nearly 25 years of experience in the wind industry, and our experience with GE at sites like Uthlede has been consistently positive.”
“Energiekontor has been a long-time GE customer and we’re proud that they will be part of this achievement,” said Cliff Harris, general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa for GE’s renewable energy business. “Europe has a strong demand for renewable energy, and we’re excited for the next milestones with our customers.”
A Milestone of Firsts
Across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, GE has announced a series of first wind energy orders in countries around the world.
In the United States and Europe, nearly forty percent of new generating capacity installed over the last four years was wind energy. China aims to increase its wind capacity to 100 GW by 2025 as part of a goal to reach 15 percent of the country’s production from renewable energy, and the European Union has updated a target framework to reach 27 percent of electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2030.
As the cost competitiveness and demand for renewable energy grows, wind has become an economic and stable choice for a wide variety of nations and developers. According to an International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2014 scenario, global energy demand could grow by 37 percent, with renewable sources reaching 33 percent of global electricity generation, by 2040.
GE has announced plans to supply 100 megawatts (MW) of wind for Kenya and Morocco to help both countries expand power generation portfolios and capture natural wind resources. Additionally, 50 MW of GE wind turbines in Pakistan will help the country capture some of its 132 GW wind potential and overcome a six gigawatt general deficit, while Croatia will receive 34 MW of GE wind turbines in order to reach a target of twenty percent of total power generation from renewable sources by 2020.
Investing In A More Brilliant Future
With more than $2 billion invested in research and development for renewable energy, GE is committed to wind technology as a competitive, economic, and future-facing energy generation choice. Investing in wind technology since 2002, GE’s renewable energy business has helped drive production costs down by more than sixty percent and increased turbine availability from 85 to 98 percent.
Additional results of these investments include the powerful 2.75-120 brilliant wind turbine, which harnesses the power of the Industrial Internet to provide smooth, predictive power to the grid and help mitigate the impact of wind variability. Another innovation is GE’s space frame tower, a five-legged enclosed lattice tower stretching up to 139 meters, making wind turbine construction more cost effective and allowing turbines to be built in never-before accessible locations.
Moving in concert with enhanced hardware, software is at the forefront of the future of renewable energy. Using data technology, GE’s Wind PowerUp* services can increase wind turbine production by up to five percent, taking into account environmental and site conditions.
GE achieved its 10,000th turbine milestone in November 2008, its 15,000th in February 2011, and its 20,000th installation in November 2012.
