GE’s Power Conversion business announced in early November it had finalized the acquisition of the Chilean power electronics company Ingeniería y Desarrollo Tecno- lógico S.A. (IDT). This move, said the company, actively positions it to build a stronger regional presence and capture a greater share of the mining segment.
IDT designs, develops and manufactures integrated solutions in the field of power electronics with its key innovations targeting the mining industry in Chile and Peru. With this acquisition, GE will build on IDT’s technology and solutions to offer them across Latin America and then globally. These integrated solutions include rectifiers (high-power equipment for any kind of electrolysis process), harmonic filters (power quality assurance) and integrated power E-rooms of electrical equipment (including medium- and low-voltage variable speed drives, switchgears and motor control centers). With almost half of the power rectifier installed capacity in the mining industry in Chile depending upon IDT’s solutions, the company is a key player in the regional mining space.
Based on the quality of the company’s technology capabilities and the expectations of more than $150 billion of mining investments in the next decade in Chile and Peru, it is expected that the business will create a large regional mining platform to provide solutions to its customers in Chile and Peru. To support the enhanced volumes, GE is planning to significantly expand IDT capacity by investing in a larger facility that also would support other GE businesses in Chile. Moreover, GE Power said the global scope and scale of GE coupled with its broad array of solutions makes this business particularly well positioned for significant top and bottom line growth going forward.
