GE Wind Energy
So who is GE Wind Energy? How did this business enity of GE get started?
Well the company was founded in 1980 but GE did not enter into the wind
power industry until the late 1990's so how is that possible. As usual
through an acquisition of another founding company. GE Wind Energy is now a
branch of GE Renewable Energy a subsidiary of General Electric.
So
where did GE Renewable Energy come from? GE Renewable Energy is a division
of GE that is headquartered in Paris, France not in the USA. Why? In
2015 GE purchased from Alstom it's the wind power assets and then GE
combined it's own existing wind power assets with that of which it received
from Alstom to create GE Renewable Energy. The French government forced upon
GE the condition that for the Alstom purchase to be approved the new GE
division would be moved from Schenectady, New York to Paris, France. Imagine
if the US government forced that type of business decision on all those
ex-American companies that now have foreign names!
Going even further
back in 1980 James G.P. Dehlsen created Zond, a wind power developer company
mostly working out of Tehachapi CA. Zond was not wind turbine manufacturer.
Then in 1987 Enron acquired Zond and also the German wind turbine
manufacturer Tacke also in 1997. In less than 15 years Enron was in horrible
financial trouble and went bankrupt in 2002. In 2002 GE acquired the wind
power assets of Enron during its bankruptcy proceedings and a few years
later GE acquired ScanWind in 2009.
More GE purchases were
forthcoming:
In 2011, GE acquired Wind Tower Systems LLC, a
manufacturer of wind turbine towers using space frames.
In 2015 GE
acquired a designer and manufacturer of modular wind turbine blades called
Blade Dynamics Ltd.
Finally in April of 2017 GE acquired LM Wind Power
from Doughty Hanson & Co.
Belatedly GE has spent time and money on
wind turbine design and also blade design. To further GE's wind power
research late 2009 a research unit was commissioned at the National Wind
Technology Center.
| Product name |
Power rating |
Rotor diameter |
Hub height |
IEC Wind Class |
| GE 1.5se |
1.5MW |
70.5m |
54.7m |
|
| GE 1.5sle |
1.5MW |
77m |
61.4m |
|
| GE 1.5xle |
1.5MW |
82.5m |
59m |
|
| GE 1.x-82.5 |
1.6-1.85MW |
82.5m |
121.25m |
IIs |
| GE 1.x-87 |
1.6-1.85MW |
87m |
80m |
IIs |
| GE 2.5xl |
2.5MW |
100m |
85m |
IIb |
| GE 1.x-100/103 |
1.6-1.7MW |
100m/103m |
80, 96m |
IIIs |
| GE 3.x-103 |
2.5-3.2MW |
103m |
98, 75, 85m |
IIb |
| GE 3.x-137 |
3.2-3.8MW |
137m |
110 to 164m |
III |
| GE 3.x-130 |
3.2-3.8MW |
130m |
85 to 164m |
II |
| GE 2.x-116 |
2.0-2.5MW |
116m |
80, 90, 94m |
IIs/IIIs |
| GE 2.x-120 |
2.5-2.75MW |
120m |
85, 110, 120, 139m |
IIIs, DiBT WZII |
| GE 2.x-127 |
2.2-2.5MW |
127m |
89m |
IIs/IIIs |
| GE 4.2-117 (Typhoon class) |
4.2MW |
117m |
|
|
| GE 4.8-158 |
4.8MW |
158m |
101, 120.9, 149, 161m |
s |
| ECO 80 |
1.67-2MW |
80m |
70-80m |
|
| ECO 86 |
1.67MW |
86m |
80m |
|
| ECO 100 |
3.0MW |
100m |
75, 90, 100m |
|
| ECO 110 |
3.0MW |
110m |
75, 90, 100m |
|
| ECO 122 |
2.7-3.0MW |
122m |
89, 119, 139m |
|
| GE 3.6sl (offshore) |
3.6MW |
111m |
|
|
| GE 4.1-113 (offshore) |
4.1MW |
113m |
|
Ib |
| GE Haliade 150-6 (offshore) |
6MW |
150m |
110m or site-specific |
Ib |
| GE Haliade-X (offshore) |
12MW |
220m |
up to 150m |
Ib |