There may be some unsteadiness in the wind power sector, but not at General Electric’s GE Power & Water business. The operating division reported new orders for wind turbines in the U.S. totaling 3.9 gigawatts since January 1, 2013, when the federal government extended Production Tax Credits for new and replacement wind power projects.
Of these new orders, GE Power said 1.1 GW was placed into service in 2013. The remaining 2.8 GW will be commissioned or begin construction by the end of 2015.
Last May, GE announced it had 1 GW of orders in the U.S. since the previous January 1. Now, since that same date, GE stated that the number of orders contracted has increased to 3.9 GW.
GE also said that over the past 18 months it has expanded its portfolio of wind-power customers to include large-scale developments, including projects by Sumitomo and Starwood Energy, each of which both are installing 200-megawatt (MW) projects using GE’s 1.7-100 wind turbines. The 1.7-100 was introduced in 2013.
Mesquite Creek Wind, jointly developed by Sumitomo and BNB Renewable Energy, is near Lamesa, Tex. Starwood Energy’s Stephen Ranch wind farm is in Borden and Lynn counties, Texas.
“We feel confident that, with our strong backlog of orders, we are strongly positioned for 2014 and 2015,” said Anne McEntee, president and CEO of GE’s renewable energy business. “As we continue to expand our brilliant wind product line, our customers are seeing efficiencies and capabilities greater than ever before in the wind industry. Through these advancements in technology, combined with strong execution and operations expertise, GE is continuing our commitment to our customers’ success and investment in the future of renewable energy.”
In addition, GE is expanding its Brilliant series of wind technologies to include the 2.2-107 wind turbine and wind plant wake-management software. It explained that the new 2.2-107 turbine increases electrical generating output by 33%, and its capacity factor by 12% percent
The Brilliant wind platform uses a GE online database to analyze tens of thousands of data points on a wind farm every second, to boost power output, and increase revenue potential.
