Yesterday, GE Renewable Energy announced it now has more than 50,000 MW of onshore wind turbines installed across the globe.
The company reached the milestone in the first quarter of 2016, largely thanks to its recent acquisition of Alstom’s renewable energy unit in November 2015.
GE’s global wind footprint, which now extends to more than 35 countries worldwide, represents enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately five cities the size of Hong Kong, five thousand football stadiums, or 50 million coffee pots (see infographic in gallery).
“Renewable energy has become a mainstream source of power generation,” said Jérôme Pécresse, President & CEO of GE Renewable Energy. “The industry is poised for continued global growth, and at GE, we are excited to be reaching this milestone and look forward to adding our next 50 gigawatts even faster.”
The United States makes up the largest portion of GE’s global installed base, but in recent years, the company has seen strong global growth in regions like Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Following the acquisition of Alstom’s renewable energy unit last year, GE expanded its European presence and added additional capacity in Brazil.
GE Renewable Energy now has at least a gigawatt of power installed in countries including Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Spain and the United States.
“Over the last decade we have continued to invest in wind technology, and those investments have enabled us to drive steady growth while reducing production costs,” said Anne McEntee, President & CEO of GE’s onshore wind business. “We feel like we are just getting started. The investments we are making today in regions all over the world are setting us up to deliver strong global growth in the years ahead.”
