GE Renewable Energy Has Repowered More Than 4 GWs of Wind Turbines in the US

GE Renewable Energy announced today at the AWEA Windpower Conference that the company has completed over 2,500 repowering upgrades, covering 4 GWs of capacity at 36 different wind farms across the United States, since 2017. The company said it expects to repower an additional 3 GW of units for 11 customers at over 25 new wind farms by the end of 2020, reflecting robust demand for the service.

GE Renewable Energy highlighted its capability to repower non-GE wind turbines, noting that two of the projects are for equipment originally supplied by other equipment manufacturers. Customers who have taken advantage of GE Renewable Energy's repowering services include NextEra, E.On, and MidAmerican Energy, amongst other leading players.

Repowering involves replacing older units with new, higher capacity turbines or retrofitting them with more efficient components – in both cases, significantly increasing wind farm production while extending the wind farm life. On average, for example, wind turbines repowered by GE have seen a 20 percent increase in annual energy production and 1.5 percent availability improvement from pre-repower performance.

Vikas Anand, GE Renewable Energy's CEO, Americas Onshore Wind, said, "Repowering existing wind turbine technology is a complex endeavor, requiring the ability to blend new technology and equipment with aging machines. GE has the engineering, design and financing expertise to help our customers do that in a way that enables them to generate the maximum amount of clean, renewable energy from each wind turbine in existence in the most economic manner possible."

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated that annual US wind repowering investment could grow to $25 billion by 2030. With the largest installed base in the US, GE Renewable Energy is uniquely positioned to serve this sizable market segment. Touting a global installed base of over 60 GW, GE is strongly qualified to address the growing interest in repowering wind turbines worldwide.

With one of the most diverse renewable energy portfolios in the industry, GE Renewable Energy offers customers a wide range of products and services – from onshore and offshore wind equipment to grid solutions and digital services offerings – needed to help them drive down the cost of electricity and bring green electrons to the grid.

GE Renewable Energy is attending AWEA Windpower Conference in Houston, Texas, May 21-23. Visit us at booth #1426.