GE Vernova

GE Vernova is a U.S.-based energy technology company that makes power generation equipment, grid equipment, wind turbines, and electrification solutions. Because many of GE Vernova's sites are light industrial or manufacturing facilities, and its products power the electric power system, water use is relevant to manufacturing, cooling, wastewater, and facility-level operations. GE Vernova prioritizes water at the facility level as well as at the scale of product design.

GE Vernova's biggest water success is the cultural change in how it assesses risk and manages water across the company. In 2024, GE Vernova used WRI Aqueduct water risk data to identify which of its light industrial and manufacturing sites are in areas of high or extremely high water stress. That helps the company more accurately identify where to target water-saving measures rather than simply treating every site proportionally.

Among other efforts, in 2024 the company recycled gray water for landscape irrigation, installed water-saving fixtures, fixed leaking pipes, and monitored and repaired dry well equipment. Its scope extends beyond groundwater and surface water to include process, sanitary, and once-through cooling water from freshwater sources, as well as inputs into product life cycle assessments. It also reports a water footprint across its entire product portfolio, capturing the impacts of raw materials as well as its site operations.

Shortfalls include rising water use, which increased from 2.3 billion gallons to 2.7 billion gallons in 2024 due largely to increased wind turbine blade manufacturing capacity, a lack of transparency across all sites, and a lack of progress on wastewater.