The latest company born out of General Electric Co. expects sales of its industrial engines fired by natural gas to benefit from the spread of renewables such as solar and wind.
Advent International Corp.’s $3.3 billion purchase of GE’s distributed-power assets was completed Nov. 6. The deal gives the private-equity company custody of a maker of generators used at campuses, factories and hospitals to keep electricity flowing when the grid goes dark.
Increasingly, small gas engines and turbines are seen as the backbone of microgrids that are reshaping the way communities get power because they can back up supplies from solar panels or battery systems. The new company, called Innio and based in Jenbach in the Austrian Alps, is seeking to ride “a massive energy sector transformation” driven by the shift to greener energy supplies, CEO Carlos Lange said.
“We’ve seen massive growth in renewables that are intermittent and volatile,” Lange said in an interview. “When the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow, we’re there.”
The flood of intermittent wind and solar power on grids is opening new markets for companies such as Innio, whose engines are sold across Europe and North America. It’s Jenbacher and Waukesha brands have more than eight decades of manufacturing experience and already have shipped some 64 gigawatts of generation.