GE Vernova CEO appraises nuclear power prospects, offshore wind business

Scott Strazik sees nuclear power adding ‘gigawatts upon gigawatts,’ adding that offshore wind needs to sort out its business model

The nuclear power industry is set to add “gigawatts upon gigawatts” of capacity heading into the 2030s, while offshore wind in the U.S. sorts out its business model, according to GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik.

Strazik leads General Electric’s spinoff of its power and wind business, which started trading as a stand-alone company in April. The energy company has emerged at a crossroads for the nuclear energy industry as companies contend with managing aging reactors while exploring newer reactor technologies—along with alternative energy sources such as onshore and offshore wind energy. 

Strazik joined the Journal House in New York on Tuesday during Climate Week NYC to discuss renewable energy and the future of the power grid. The conversation focused on the future of various energy sectors, including nuclear power and onshore and offshore wind, as well as recent reported layoffs at GE Vernova, the nation’s largest wind turbine manufacturer.

Following are edited excerpts from his conversation with Ken Brown, The Wall Street Journal’s bureau chief of climate and financial enterprise.

The promise of nuclear power

WSJ: So nuclear is interesting, because we’ve heard about it all the time. The question is, is it going to come too late?

Strazik: I do think in the early 2030s this will start to scale. We’re going to be adding gigawatts upon gigawatts of nuclear capacity every year. So it’s going to take this decade to really validate the technology, get a few of the first projects cut into COD, or commercial operation date. And I’m highly confident in the 2030s this is going to be a very material part of the equation for us.

The offshore wind industry

WSJ: So where is your offshore wind business?

Strazik: I’d start by just taking a step back and saying, when we look at the energy transition over the long term, we see an important role for offshore wind, much like we talked about SMR, or small modular reactors, playing a role in the next decade. Much like carbon capture, offshore wind is important for the world. That said, as you outlined, we had a tough summer in offshore wind. 

We had a [wind turbine] blade event in the Atlantic that was caused by a deviation, a manufacturing deviation, at one of our factories that led to an escape, and that has led to a very thoughtful, thorough summer for us to ultimately restart our operations on the other side of that event that took place in the first half of July. We learned a lot from it to this point, but what we’ve been talking about with offshore wind is that it’s a nascent industry where we need to be thorough and not rushed, and that’s really how we’ve gone about this summer.

Recent reported layoffs

WSJ: So with your recent layoffs, where does that leave your offshore wind business? Are you thinking it’s still going to grow? Where is that business for you?

Strazik: For context, I’ve had responsibility for offshore wind for, I guess, two and a half years now, and we had a $7 billion backlog two and a half years ago. Today, we have about a $3 billion backlog with two projects. So over the last two and a half years, we haven’t been adding to this business. That’s partly because the industry is sick. 

The economics haven’t really worked for anyone in the value chain of offshore wind, whether it be my customers or the wind OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] by any means. That said, we believe offshore wind matters to the world and want to play our part, but we need to continue to execute on what we have, which is a backlog that’s going to take us a period of time to complete, and we need the economics for the industry to reset and reset what best illustrates the risk and reward for what are very complex operations out at sea but providing a solution that’s very important for the world simultaneously. So we’re going to keep working on offshore wind every day. We’ve got a lot to do, and the industry has a lot to do for it to thrive.