General Electric is downsizing the onshore wind-turbines, and will restructure that part of its GE Renewable Energy business unit. According to a Reuters report, employees in that business segment were notified this week of the coming reorganization, which will affect 20% of the onshore unit, a figure that would involve hundreds of workers in North America, Latin America, the Middle-East and Africa. Another, later downsizing will address the operations in Europe and Asia Pacific.
The onshore wind-turbine business is the largest component of the GE Renewable Energy unit, with a total of 38,000 employees in 2021.
In the Reuters report, General Electric confirmed it is downsizing the onshore wind business as a response to dwindling demand, as well as rising material costs the result from inflation and supply-chain irregularities. The U.S. last year allowed its federal tax credits for renewable energy to expire, dealing another blow to demand for wind projects. In it’s 2Q earnings report, GE cited the North American onshore wind sector for its declining revenue.
Along with falling demand, the wind-turbine business has been battling higher raw material costs due to inflation and supply chain pressures.
Rival wind-turbine businesses Siemens Gamesa and Vestas Wind Systems have also indicated falling demand for new projects.
GE Renewable Energy is a $16 billion business that includes onshore and offshore wind-energy turbine design and manufacturing, plus turbine blade production, along with hydro, storage, utility-scale solar, and grid solutions as well as hybrid renewables and digital services offerings. GE Renewable Energy claims to have installed more than 400+ gigawatts of renewable energy and equipped more than 90 percent of utilities worldwide with its grid solutions.
The Renewable Energy unit is planned to be spun off as GE Vernova in early 2024, as part of GE’s planned deconsolidation.
