US-based General Electric (GE) has released its 2018 annual report on all of its businesses from aviation to healthcare on Tuesday. GE reported revenue growth of 4% in its renewable energy sector in 2018 but also announced that profitability in renewables fell.
GE’s renewable revenue stood at $9.5bn for the year, with $7bn from equipment and $2.5bn in services. Of the $9.5bn, $4.3bn came from the US market and $5.2bn from the rest of the world, with Europe being the second largest market at $1.9bn. Onshore wind turbines contributed $8.3bn of revenue, with an additional $400m from offshore and $800m from hydropower.
Total orders for 2018 stood at $10.9bn with $7.9bn in equipment and $3bn in services. GE also reported its backlog of orders was over $17bn, with $8.5bn in equipment and $8.7bn in services.
GE’s profit from renewables was $300m in 2018, a 50% reduction on 2017. The company stated that the reason for the decline in profit was due to ‘pricing pressure’ and an ‘unfavourable business mix as well as liquidated damages related to partner execution and project delays’.
In a letter to GE shareholders, CEO Lawrence Culp said: “The energy mix continues to shift dramatically, with roughly two-thirds of global capacity additions through 2040 projected to be in renewables.
“GE is determined to lead this transition. We’re making bold bets in clean energy while our turbines and technology allow customers to quickly dispatch more reliable, affordable fuels such as natural gas when they are needed. Across our product portfolio, we are using a combination of hardware and software to grow our service offerings and help utilities maintain and extend the life of their equipment.”
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By GlobalDataGE has installed over 400GW of wind capacity worldwide. A recent report from Bloomberg NEF found the company was third largest in wind turbine installation in 2018, with nearly 5GW installed.
