General Electric increases Brazilian wind turbine production investments

GE announced the expansion of its Campinas, São Paulo, manufacturing facility and the creation of 35 new skilled jobs. Co-located with Brazilian machinery manufacturer and GE Group subsidiary GEVISA, the facility will produce machine heads, also known as nacelles, for GE 1.7-100 and 1.85-82.5 wind turbines. The machine head is a primary component of a wind turbine and houses the power generation equipment including the gearbox, generator and controls.

With an expanding fleet of 500 wind turbines throughout the country, GE continues to invest in Brazil and put advanced technology and local expertise to work for the region.

“Wind energy is one of Brazil’s fastest growing energy sources,” said Jean-Claude Robert, general manager of Latin America for GE’s renewable energy business. “Last year the country added 1,077 megawatts of wind to the grid—40 percent of which were GE installations. The Campinas facility expansion will enable GE to continue to provide high-quality wind technology while enabling our customers to have access to Brazil’s BNDES financing lines.”

To quickly and efficiently respond to the rapidly growing demand for advanced wind energy services, GE has announced the opening of two wind services centers in Brazil. The first center will be located in Bahia and the second will open in Rio Grande do Norte. Together, they will employ more than 100 service technicians. Engineers at the new facilities will monitor wind operations and weather as well as dispatch local technicians to wind farms to perform maintenance.

GE has had a presence in Brazil since 1919 and today, employs more than 8,500 people in the country. The company has operations throughout Brazil, including in Bahia, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. The local team leverages GE’s global expertise of engineers, field service technicians and logistics excellence to ensure the highest quality and strongest execution is on point for customers in Brazil.

The Campinas facility also is the production site for GE’s wind turbine hubs.