Jan 22 2008
GE Energy reinforced its position as North America's leading supplier of wind turbines in 2007, with another record-breaking year for the U.S. wind industry.
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) today reported that more than five gigawatts of new wind power capacity were installed in the U.S. in 2007, the third consecutive year of record-setting growth, with GE Energy supplying wind turbines that represented nearly half of that total.
GE provided over 2.3 gigawatts of new wind capacity in 2007, an increase of more than 100% over the prior year, nearly matching the total installed by the entire U.S. wind industry in 2006.
"Representing about 30% of new power-producing capacity added in 2007 by the United States, wind power is firmly established as one of the largest sources of new power generation in the nation, and is becoming a mainstream option for meeting the growing electricity demand," said Victor Abate, Vice President-Renewables for GE Energy. "It is clear that abundant, domestic, reliable, carbon-free wind power will continue to play a key role in the energy future of this country."
According to AWEA, American wind farms operating in 34 states will generate an estimated 48 billion kilowatt-hours of wind energy in 2008, just over 1% of U.S. electricity supply.
To support the continued growth of the U.S. wind industry, both AWEA and GE's Abate called for Congress to extend the federal production tax credit (PTC.) "A long-term PTC would sustain the wind industry's momentum, creating more jobs and economic opportunities and helping the country move forward in its efforts to increase its supply of renewable energy and reduce foreign energy dependence," noted Abate.
Worldwide, GE expects its 2007 wind business revenue to exceed $4 billion, an eight-fold increase since 2002, the year the company entered the wind business. Since 2004, GE's wind turbine production has increased by 500%.
To help GE meet the surging demand for wind turbines, in November of 2007 two component suppliers, Molded Fiber Glass Companies (MFG) and TPI Composites, announced plans to build new wind turbine blade manufacturing plants in Aberdeen, South Dakota and Newton, Iowa respectively.
The new plants will enable both companies to increase their capacity for producing blades for GE's 1.5-megawatt wind turbines, which are among the most widely used machines in the global wind industry. More than 7,700 of the 1.5-megawatt units have been installed worldwide, and GE expects to have more than 10,000 of these machines operating by the end of 2008.
Also during 2007, GE Energy announced the expansion of its Renewables Global Headquarters in Schenectady, N.Y. to include a new Wind Product Management and Customer Support Center. The expansion will add 150 new positions to GE's global wind team of 2,000 employees.
Another 2007 highlight for GE Energy was receiving the 2007 Frost & Sullivan North American Wind Power Growth Strategy Award. In announcing the award, Frost & Sullivan, a leading global growth consulting company, cited GE's "unmatched leadership in manufacturing large-scale wind turbines in North America."