GE, Siemens wind energy

Vestas Wind Systems is by far the largest manufacturer of wind turbines, but General Electric and Siemens both have large wind energy operations (with 8400 and 6600 respective installations worldwide). GE and Siemens have been hurt during the recent financial crisis, especially General Electric. GE is one of the most diverse companies in the world, but the stock price was battered by the difficulties at GE Capital. Siemens announced a plan during the summer to lay off over 17,000 employees worldwide to cut rising costs. Although the wind power divisions in both companies are appealing, they make up only a small portion of overall operations. You must invest in each company as a whole and performance hasn’t been good as of late.

General Electric’s turbine size ranges from 1.5 to 3.6 megawatts. Siemens has units ranging from 1 to 3.6 megawatts. Neither company is particularly detailed on the specifications of their turbines, most likely due to proprietary technology. Both companies install units for on and offshore use, and offer similar services to customers.

At the current time, both General Electric and Siemens are trading just up from their 52-week lows. Year to date the companies are each down over 50%. Even though this article is about wind energy, as an investor you cannot ignore the other business areas of these two companies. Both are large conglomerates and wind power is only a small part of each. GE and Siemens have attractive dividend yields and good historical performance. Look for these companies to rebound when industrials and the market have an upswing.