Description
GE Power is an American energy technology company, owned by General Electric. In 2018, General Electric power plants produced one-third of the world's electricity.
History
2013–present
After lengthy negotiations, on 2 November 2015, GE finalised the acquisition of Alstom's power generation and electricity transmission business, that were integrated into GE Power & Water. Later, the newly acquired Hydro and Wind business of Alstom, together with GE's own Wind Energy division, were spun-off to create a new subsidiary called GE Renewable Energy.
In 2015, GE Power garnered press attention when a model 7FB gas turbine in Texas was shut down for two months due to the break of a turbine blade. This model uses similar blade technology to GE's newest and most efficient model, the 9HA. After the break, GE developed new protective coatings and heat treatment methods. Gas turbines represent a significant portion of GE Power's revenue, and also represent a significant portion of the power generation fleet of several utility companies in the United States. Chubu Electric of Japan and Électricité de France also had units that were impacted. Initially, GE did not realize the turbine blade issue of the 9FB unit would impact the new 9HA units.
Forced by a wave of very negative financial results, the company went through a series of disinvestments and reorganization in 2017.
In May 2017, GE Oil & Gas was combined with Baker Hughes Incorporated to create Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), a new tier-1 business inside the parent group.
In June 2017, GE Energy Connections merged again with GE Power & Water, to become the present GE Power. The new combined business unit is led by former GE Energy Connections president and CEO, Russell Stokes.
Swiss-based ABB Group announced in September 2017, a $2.6 billion deal with GE Power to acquire the Industrial Solutions division.
In October 2017, GE Power sold its Water & Process Technology division to French-based utility company Suez for a total of $3.4 billion.
In June 2018, the private equity firm Advent International agreed to buy GE’s distributed power unit for $3.25 billion.
In 2019, in a strategic realignment to cut costs and satisfy the surging demand in the renewable power market, it was decided to merge the Grid Solutions portfolio into the Renewable Power business. That move took GE assets on electrical transmission grids, battery storage and solar inverters away from GE Power.
In June 2019, GE Steam Power started manufacturing half-speed steam turbines for the four Rosatom VVER-1200s being built at Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, Turkey's first nuclear power plant. This is part of a joint venture established in 2007, between General Electric and Rosatom subsidiary Atomenergomash, called AAEM Turbine Technology, to supply equipment for VVER nuclear power plants. The joint venture includes the manufacture of heat exchange equipment in Russia. GE has installed about half of all nuclear power plant steam turbines around the world.
