GE Renewable Energy Global Wind Installations Reaches 50 GW

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GE  Renewable Energy announced this week that it has officially installed more than 50 GW of onshore wind installations around the world.

After its parent company published its first quarter earnings a week earlier, GE Renewable Energy announced on Tuesday that it had reached the 50 GW milestone during its first quarter, thanks largely to the recent acquisition of Alstom’s renewable energy unit in November of 2015. GE now has more than 30,000 wind turbines installed across more than 35 different countries, generating the equivalent electricity necessary to power five cities the size of Hong Kong.

“Renewable energy has become a mainstream source of power generation,” said Jérôme Pécresse, President & CEO of GE Renewable Energy. “The industry is poised for continued global growth, and at GE, we are excited to be reaching this milestone and look forward to adding our next 50 gigawatts even faster.”

Unsurprisingly, given past trends, the United States is home to GE’s largest install base. However, GE’s global presence has been strengthening, with strong growth seen in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The acquisition of Alstom’s renewable energy unit helped to expand GE’s presence in Europe, and also helped add additional capacity in Brazil.

“Over the last decade we have continued to invest in wind technology, and those investments have enabled us to drive steady growth while reducing production costs,” added Anne McEntee, President & CEO of GE’s onshore wind business. “We feel like we are just getting started. The investments we are making today in regions all over the world are setting us up to deliver strong global growth in the years ahead.”

GE has been among the top wind turbine OEM companies in the world — taking second spot in 2014, according to MAKE Consulting, before falling to third spot in 2015 as Vestas and Goldwind reclaimed their positions atop the pile. GE is also building the United States’ first offshore wind farm, having completed the offshore platforms for the 30 MW Block Island Wind Farm, which is being developed off the coast of Rhode Island.