Brazilian wind turbine makers Weg and Aeris Energy could benefit from General Electric's decision.

General Electric, one of the world's leading suppliers of wind power and a competitor to global giants Vestas, Siemens, Nordex and WEG, announces the end of new contracts for the production of wind turbines in Brazil and the Camaçari factory has an uncertain destination.

The reason for the decision was not immediately clear, but said it only applies to equipment produced in Brazil within local content rules. The decision coincided in the midst of difficulties in the renewable energy area of ​​the American manufacturer, which will undergo a restructuring.

“We share with our employees in Latin America a set of actions related to the transformation of our Onshore Wind International business that aim to adapt to the current market reality, preparing the business for the future. We reinforce our full commitment to serving our customers and supporting our employees in the region,” GE said in a statement.

For Santander analysts, General Electric's decision should favor competitors and customers that operate in the largest country in Latin America, such as the Brazilian Weg and Aeris Energy.

“Given that GE will shut down its wind turbine plant in Brazil, we believe it is likely that it will also shut down its wind turbine blade plant… If that happens, Aeris will become the only wind blade manufacturer in Brazil,” wrote the analysts Lucas Barbosa and Lucas Esteves.

It is worth remembering that in addition to the Brazilians, the Danish Vestas and the Germans Nordex-Acciona and Siemens-Gamesa will also be able to benefit.

Production of wind turbines at the factory in Camaçari (BA) for export remains active

The service areas (operation and maintenance) and activities at the factory in Camaçari (BA) for export remain active, to fulfill General Electric's contracts and projects with customers.

“We share with our employees in Latin America a set of actions related to the transformation of our Onshore Wind International business that aim to adapt to the current reality of the market, preparing the business for the future”, said the company, in a note.

"We reinforce our full commitment to serving our customers and supporting our employees in the region."

In addition to the wind turbine factory in Bahia, General Electric also has a wind blade production unit in the Port of Suape (PE).

Struggles in GE's renewables and wind power business come amid a sharp rise in raw material costs in the industry

In a note signed by the Investor Relations Vice President, Steve Winoker, General Electric added that it is designing a strategy to scale the production of wind turbines to a level of XNUMX machines/year, focusing on “decentralization and selectivity”.

General Electric's renewables business, which will be spun off to create a new company, GE Vernova, reported a 23% drop in revenues in the second quarter, which totaled US$3 billion. In the accumulated result for the first semester, the decrease in comparison with the previous year is 18%.

The difficulties in General Electric's renewables and wind energy business come amid a sharp increase in raw material costs in the industry, due to the disorganization of production chains after the Covid-19 pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine.