General Electric (GE) has brought us light bulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, and rollable solar panels, but it can’t seem to get us wind power on time.  GE is not the only provider of wind turbines currently having this problem.  Its just that GE has been selling more and more wind turbines that haven’t been built yet.

GE’s backlog on wind turbine orders has reached $12 billion.  No small sum especially when its stock price recently dropped 15%.  Although the net profit from this branch of GE is not very large, just a 15% profit margin, this sector of GE has grown 40%.  The company has shipped 569 turbines but the back order is causing problems.  GE’s backlog is causing power company customers to postpone projects and renegotiate contracts with creditors and resuppliers.

Wind turbines are difficult to make and parts can’t simply be picked up at the local hardware store.  Some turbines have blades the size of jet wings which can’t be rushed through production.  Since wind power can generate large amounts of energy, wind turbines are more and more in demand especially in Europe.

Although wind power looks to be a lucrative market for GE, the company is having to scramble to keep the backlog of orders manageable much less quickly provide wind turbines for new orders. 

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Entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 10:43 pm under Science and technology, Technology.

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