By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: GE launched its Reservoir energy-storage system to augment their renewable energy product line. A 20′ container will house 1.2MW/4MWh.
- One of the megacorporation’s main talking points about why it decided to do this now was the importance it sees in integrating more renewable energy onto the grid.
- GE says Reservoir already has 20 MW / 80 MWh pre-launch commitment of projects.
- GE Ventures has been actively investing in storage startups, as discussed at SolarWakeup Live!
SolarWakeup’s View: If GE is getting into the energy storage market, that’s a huge boost for everyone else already playing in the segment. GE isn’t just any company; it has a long-standing history of being a company others follow and one that doesn’t enter new markets recklessly. So observers might see this as a legitimization of all the fevered talk about energy storage being the next frontier for wind and solar-energy proliferation.
GE recently announced that it had surpassed $10billion in renewable energy revenues in a single year.
Unclear in the announcement this morning is what segment of the market GE intends to target – and that’s the one concern I have. A behemoth like GE could lift all storage companies, yes, but it could also create the kind of tidal wave that could swamp smaller storage businesses and force them out of business. Given the activity in GE’s venture business unit, this announcement could serve as a precursor for technology acquisitions.
Only time will tell which of those scenarios will occur and how it will affect energy storage long-term, but GE’s commitment – along with its parallel commitment to renewable energy sources – means the combined power of those two divisions could bring good things to life for the solar industry, too.
More
GE Renewable Energy Secured $10.4 Billion In Orders In 2017 (CleanTechnica)
E030: GE Invests In Renewable Energy To Grow Its Power Business With Daniel Hullah of GE Ventures