Renewable energy projects around the world could get a chance at even more money from Stamford, Conn.-based GE Energy Financial Services.
The group just raised its 2010 renewable energy investing target by 50 percent to $6 billion, up from $4 billion.
GE Energy Financial, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), has built up an ever growing portfolio of clean energy over the past few years, with investments topping the $3 billion mark today, rising from $2 billion in May 2007 and $630 million in 2004.
So far, wind has received the lion's share of the company's investments, but the unit also invests in solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal.
"The technology in wind is proven, and it's well developed. In fact, keeps getting better," Andy Katell, spokesman for GE Energy Financial Services, told Cleantech.com.
"Bigger turbines, that makes for more efficiency," he said. "Costs are coming down per megawatt."
And while parent company GE, which is one of the world's leading wind turbine suppliers, is helping to improve the field, he points out that many of the investments from GE Energy Financial are for projects that don't use GE turbines.
The latest deal that pushed the unit's renewable investments to over $3 billion is a 600 megawatt wind portfolio that spans four states in the U.S., and uses turbines from Vestas and Gamesa.
Covering Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois and Texas, the $300 million investment is for wind farms owned by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy, a subsidiary of Energias de Portugal.
With the Horizon deal, GE Energy Financial increased the total capacity of its global wind holdings to more than 3,600 MW.
While wind energy is GE Energy Financial's most active renewable investing area, the Horizon stake followed close on the heels of a solar deal for the GE unit.
Last week, GE Energy Financial said it would fund five solar projects in California, totaling 8 MW, from San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR).
The size of that investment was not disclosed (see GE unit funding Calif. SunPower projects).
The company also stepped outside of wind last July, grabbing a 90 percent stake in the Scholl Canyon Landfill gas project in Glendale, Calif.
Scholl Canyon collects and treats more than 10 million cubic feet of methane gas per day, which is then transported five miles through a dedicated pipeline to Glendale's 250 MW Grayson Power Plant.
GE Energy Financial said the combusted methane generates enough electricity to power 10,000 average California homes.
The group isn't confined to investing in the U.S. Katell said they're looking at wind and solar in Canada, and that Western Europe is probably their most mature non-U.S. presence.
The unit has an equity investment in French wind developer Theolia, which in turn has wind projects all over Europe.
And GE Energy Financial has a growing global reach.
"In Asia we are deploying staff now. We have folks in India. We're just setting up an office in Singapore. And we have some folks even in the Middle East," said Katell.
The company is also greening things up at its home base, with plans to move into a newly renovated, energy efficient building next year.
With $16 billion in assets, GE Energy Financial invests more than $5 billion annually, including in oil, gas, and coal.
But the group expects its renewable energy investments to account for 20 to 25 percent of its overall energy and water portfolio by 2010, up from about 10 percent in 2006.
And its not just renewable energy, but energy efficiency that makes the list of target investments.
Last year, GE Energy Financial provided a $40 million credit facility for Comverge (Nasdaq: COMV), an East Hanover, N.J.-based demand response company.
GE Energy Financial also participated in two rounds of funding for A123Systems in Watertown, Mass. The lithium-ion battery maker raised $40 million in January 2007 and another $30 million in October 2007.
There's more deals on the way for the GE unit, which isn't slowing down in its effort to spread the equity around.
"There's another one, a wind deal, that's imminent," said Katell. "There are others behind that. This will be a very active year."
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