Decreasing growth in GE's power units as solar and wind getting attraction

This bearish view of fossil-fuel energy, reflective of a growing acceptance by utilities of renewable power sources.

Within the past 20 years, solar power has grown from a niche product to a significant presence in the global energy market. In 2000, the world's installed solar power capacity was around one megawatt now that figure stands at 305 gigawatts, approximately one percent of the total installed global energy capacity.

Solar power is one of humanity's best hopes for decarbonizing the energy sector. Along with wind, the sun's rays are the most readily available source of clean energy on the planet.

Effect of change in the mind of people about the type of energy they are using can be estimated through the decreasing production and demand of old power sources.

Vistra Energy Corp and Dominion Energy Inc which serve about 5.5 million electricity customers in more than a dozen US states both say they are done building combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plants.

Instead, they are building large solar plants, which offer plentiful and inexpensive electricity.

This bearish view of fossil-fuel energy, reflective of a growing acceptance by utilities of renewable power sources, poses a hurdle to John Flannery's plan to turn around General Electric Co's USD 35 billion-a-year power unit.

GE's chief executive spelt out the difficulty on Wednesday. Power profits will be flat this year after falling 53 percent in 2017, he said, and GE is planning that demand for heavy-duty natural gas power plants will be less than half what it forecast just over a year ago, and will stay at that level through 2020.

New plant sales are "going to be tough," Flannery said at an investor conference on Wednesday. "This is not going to be a quick fix, but there is, at the end of the day, long-life assets here with intrinsic economic value. We're going to make the most of what we have there."

In the long run, Flannery and Russell Stokes, the head of GE Power, have said demand for electricity and natural gas power generators will grow about 2 percent a year - in line with global forecasts - as utilities make a gradual transition to renewable power.

(With inputs from Reuters)