By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing – Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) shot up more than 6% Thursday as the company announced its third order win in two days, this one for supplying its Cypress onshore turbines for an 88 MW wind farm in Vietnam.
BIM Wind JSC, a joint venture company between Vietnam’s BIM Energy Holding and Philippines’ AC Energy, has placed the order with GE. It includes a 15-year full-service operations and maintenance contract.
The wind farm is expected to be commissioned by the end of third quarter of 2021. All turbines will be equipped with GE’s two-piece blade design.
Wednesday, GE said it will supply 16 of its 5.5 MW-158 Cypress turbines, its largest onshore wind turbine in the field, for the 88 MW Puskakorpi wind farm in Finland along with a 30-year full services agreement.
GE’s Cypress onshore wind platform enables higher energy savings. It includes power ratings between 4.8 and 6.1 MW, with 158 and 164-meter rotor diameters and various hub heights. It is equipped with both single piece and jointed blade variants.
In the other order win on Wednesday, GE said Austria’s largest electricity producer, VERBUND, has elected it to supply and commission one 45 MW generator for the extension of the Reisseck II pumped hydro storage power plant in Carinthia, located 2300 meters above sea level.
GE has been in the headlines lately for various reasons that include senior leadership changes, a reverse stock split and a $30 billion sale of its aircraft leasing unit, GE Capital Aviation Services, to Ireland’s AerCap.
In his May 15 upgrade, Citi (NYSE:C) analyst Andrew Kaplowitz put a buy on the stock, pegging his target at $17. The stock is still 21% away from Kaplowitz's target.
The analyst believes that while clean energy may not be a driver of the stock as yet, it could bring big upside if GE manages to grow its market share in wind turbines.