GE Energy Financial Services, a business unit of GE, announced at the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) WINDPOWER 2017 conference that it has exceeded US$15 billion in renewable energy investment commitments in wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects globally. Over the past three years, GE Energy Financial Services has committed to invest approximately US$5 billion in renewable energy projects, exceeding its 2014 commitment to invest US$1 billion per year.
Global renewable energy investments continue to outpace fossil fuel investment by two-to-one. Renewables is GE Energy Financial Services’ fastest growing business segment. Its investment commitments span 17 countries, comprise 75 percent wind, 18 percent solar and seven percent other renewable technologies, and include two recent off-shore wind investments – the U.S. Block Island Wind Farm and Merkur Offshore Germany.
“Renewable energy has a vibrant future with demand increasing across the world, and it creates jobs and addresses global environmental challenges,” said David Nason, President and CEO of GE Energy Financial Services. “With GE at the forefront of technology and digital advancements, we continue to invest in this attractive asset class.”
Consistent with the GE Capital strategy to more closely align with its industrial businesses, GE Energy Financial Services invests equity and debt, and helps to place capital, in support of GE and its customers globally.
The $15 billion investment milestone occurs on the heels of an active 2016 for the industry. In 2016, GE Energy Financial Services invested tax and cash equity in 16 U.S. renewable energy projects, of which approximately 1.4-GW is expected to be operational in 2017. The fourth quarter was reported by AWEA as the second strongest quarter for U.S. wind installations on record, with GE Renewable Energy leading in market share.
“Wind power is a winning investment for Americans in all 50 states,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO, AWEA. “With companies like GE at the forefront, wind increasingly powers our economy, creating good-paying jobs and supplying low-cost electricity for millions of American homes and businesses. And wind power’s technology continues to advance in the digital age – bigger, better and more reliable than ever.”
GE Energy Financial Services’ $15B in investment commitments is in more than 16 gigawatts of renewable energy projects globally. Collectively, its renewable energy investment commitments are in projects that generate enough clean energy to power 3.5 times the number of homes in the city of Los Angeles, California, avoiding more than 41 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, and equivalent to almost nine million cars off the road.