GE will intensify its focus on the growing renewables energy market by consolidating all the company's renewable and grid assets into a single, simplified renewable energy business, the company announced on Wednesday.
"One of the broadest portfolios in the industry with wind, hydro, grid, and renewable hybrids is coming together to provide end-to-end solutions for our customers demanding reliable, affordable green power," GE’s press release read.
According to the statement, the decision was driven by the increasing global demand for renewable power generation and the associated grid integration.The news releasecited the International Energy Agency's Renewables 2018 market analysis which showed that renewable capacity additions of 178 gigawatts (GW) accounted for more than two-thirds of global net electricity capacity growth in 2017.
With this decision, the company aimstoenable GE Renewable Energy to drive more local and integrated solutions, simplify its structure, and improve performance. "The business will be capable of supporting customers from project development, to equipment and services, to full turnkey solutions. It will have the most diverse and broadest renewable portfolios in the industry, enabling customers to bring green electrons to the grid or to power their operations," it said.
The proposed moves include moving GE's grid solutions and hybrid renewables, including solar and storage system technologies into the GE Renewable Energy business, complementing its existing onshore wind, offshore wind, LM Wind Power, and hydro offerings, which will be complemented with digitally enabled services.
The company will also streamline its onshore wind structure, eliminating its headquarters layer and elevating its current regional teams—Americas, Europe/Africa,MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey) and APAC (Asia Pacific) — to improve competitiveness, speed, customer focus, and local execution in the Onshore Wind business.
GE Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., claimed that this strategic realignment would position GE to lead in the fast-growing renewable energy market. "This move will help our Renewable Energy teams to better support their customers in leading the energy transition by simplifying the way they can access innovative products, integrated solutions, and services that reflect the evolution of the clean energy marketplace," he said.
GE Renewable Energy CEO Jerome Pecresse also praised the move. "With the unique diversity and scale of this portfolio and the combination of expertise, technology, and local reach, we will create enhanced value for all our customers seeking to power the world with affordable, reliable green electrons," he said. The expandedRenewable Energy is part of GE's energy related portfolio, which also includes the newly created Gas Power business and GE's Power portfolio which operates steam, nuclear, and power conversion.
