- Since 2017, GE Renewable Energy has completed over 2,500 upgrades covering 4 GWs of capacity at 36 different wind farms across the U.S.
- Over the next two years, the company expects continued growth and plans to repower an additional 3 GW of units for eleven customers by the end of 2020.
- GE’s repowering program results in 20 percent average increase in annual energy production
- Repowered fleets have over 98 percent availability rating.
In announcements made at the AWEA Windpower Conference held in Houston Texas last week, GE Renewable Energy highlighted its capability to repower non-GE wind turbines, noting that two of the projects are for equipment originally supplied by other equipment manufacturers. Customers who have taken advantage of GE Renewable Energy’s repowering services include NextEra, E.On, and MidAmerican Energy, amongst other leading players.
Repowering involves replacing older units with new, higher capacity turbines or retrofitting them with more efficient components – in both cases, significantly increasing wind farm production while extending the wind farm life. On average, for example, wind turbines repowered by GE have seen a 20 percent increase in annual energy production and 1.5 percent availability improvement from pre-repower performance.
Vikas Anand, GE Renewable Energy’s CEO, Americas Onshore Wind, said, “Repowering existing wind turbine technology is a complex endeavor, requiring the ability to blend new technology and equipment with aging machines. GE has the engineering, design and financing expertise to help our customers do that in a way that enables them to generate the maximum amount of clean, renewable energy from each wind turbine in existence in the most economic manner possible.”
In other related news GE Renewable Energy has also issued a first-of-its-kind design conformity statement. In partnership with TUV Nord, GE Renewable Energy announced the issuance of the first design conformity statement to cover a 40-year period. Twice the length of customary certifications, it will offer customers significant value by lowering levelized cost of energy and de-risking their wind farms long-term. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
