GE has announced that in the 10 years since it entered the wind energy business, it has installed 18,000 wind turbines worldwide, representing 28 GW in wind power capacity.
The company expects that its installed wind turbine base will exceed 20,000 units by the end of the year. Over the last decade, nearly one in every two wind turbines installed in the U.S. has been a GE wind turbine, and the company has introduced its wind technology into new markets, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Poland and Turkey.
‘The cost of wind power has gone from mid-double digits to mid-single digits, largely due to wind turbine efficiency, manufacturing productivity and availability improvements,’ says Vic Abate, vice president of renewable energy at GE. "Within the next two years, wind will generate five percent of the planet's electricity and continue to be one of the top three new power generation sources in the next decade."
The company also notes that its 2.5-series of wind turbines have surpassed 2 GW of installed capacity worldwide.
Abate says Europe, Canada, Brazil, China and India will be the top growth markets for GE's wind business in the immediate future.
"We are rapidly growing in Europe, and both Canada and Brazil are very active," he notes.
