USA • RENEWABLES GE Power Systems has officially entered the wind power industry by finalising its acquisition of Enron’s wind turbine generator division, a deal flagged up in February. The new GE business, GE Wind Energy, will be headed by Steven Zwolinski, who was formerly manager of GE Global Hydro. Over the past three months, all bankruptcy court and regulatory approvals required to complete the acquisition have been received.
GE hopes its Six Sigma quality procedures will drive further improvements in wind turbine generators in a market expected to grow about 20 per cent a year in Europe, the U.S. Japan, China and Latin America. GE has acquired all Enron Wind’s wind power capabilities including plant design, engineering and site selection, and O & M services. The current product line includes units with outputs of 900 and 1500 kW, while larger systems of 3.2 and 3.6 MW are in development. A 3.6-MW system is currently being tested in Spain. Existing wind farm assets will remain with Enron.
