GE said it booked seven HA turbine orders in the first nine months of this year, half as many as in the same period last year.
GE’s HA turbines have come under particular pressure and its plant repair business is facing growing competition. The success of GE’s new turbines are of increasing importance as it slims down to focus on power plants, jet engines and wind turbines in a flurry of restructuring. GE spent more than two decades developing the 400-ton machines, but brought them to market after rivals Siemens and Mitsubishi were gaining market share, forcing GE to catch up.
GE undercut its rivals’ prices by about 20 percent “to go from 0 percent to about 45 percent share of this turbine class by 2016,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a report this year.
Now Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp is battling to restore GE’s profit and slash debt after the company lost $22.8 billion last quarter, mostly from its power unit, and its credit rating fell to just three notches above junk. Culp is splitting up the power division, consolidating its power headquarters to cut costs and has named new leaders for it.
Demand for large gas turbines is at a 23-year low, forcing GE and rivals to fight hard for fewer deals as utilities buy more wind and solar systems that have become cost competitive.