Looking to gain a strong foothold in the emerging sector of renewable energy in Japan, General Electric (GE), a Boston-based multinational conglomerate company, has decided to step up in the marketing for turbines and offshore wind farms in the country of Japan. The move is also in line with the company's decision to move away from fossil fuel energy.
In a recent release, GE plans to put the Haliade-X wind turbine for sale, which is a turbine that boasts an industry-leading capacity of 12 megawatts. In line with this, a prototype will then be installed in the coming months in the Netherlands.
In an interview, Anne McEntee, who acts as the head of GE's renewable-energy digital services, said that the country of Japan is a key market, seeing as key efforts are being made to increase renewable energy there.
A greener move
As a matter of fact, by fiscal 2030, Japan's government is targeting renewables to account for around 22 to 24 percent of the country's energy mix. In line with this, legislation was passed late last year, and offshore power has been promoted as well. Furthermore, rules have also been drawn to help coordinate with the fisheries sector, which remains the biggest hurdle when it comes to increasing offshore wind power. As a result of this, domestic and foreign equipment manufacturers have also started sharpening their focus.
Last year, GE received a massive loss of investment that totals up to $20 billion in its fossil-fuel business, pushing the company to rebuild under their new CEO Lawrence Culp.
Earlier this week, the company also announced the sale of its biopharmaceutical business. Per the same announcement, the company is priced $21.4 billion.
A needed change
Currently, the company has more than $100 billion in interest-bearing debt, giving GE with the urgent task of rebuilding and/or rebranding their core businesses, as well as strengthening the company's overall potential for high earnings. Towards this end, shifting to renewables remain as a key factor.
Per McEntee, renewable energy has now solidified itself as a mainstay in various business spaces, especially in Japan. In fact, the segment manages to generate more than 10 percent of overall revenue than both healthcare and aviation operations. It's also growing much faster than the aforementioned industries.
As of writing, GE currently has an overall 30 percent hold/share in the market for Japanese offshore wind power, as compared to its 7 percent worldwide.
