The battery can be used in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications for large data centers, hospitals, and other areas where a continuous supply of power is necessary. A UPS is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power when [...]]]> GE Energy Storage Technologies, a unit of GE Transportation, introduced today its Durathon battery for critical backup power.

The battery can be used in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications for large data centers, hospitals, and other areas where a continuous supply of power is necessary. A UPS is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power when utility mains fail; unlike a standby generator a UPS provides instantaneous protection for power interruptions.

“GE’s Durathon battery has been designed to fit into modern UPS applications where continuous power is a must,” said Ganesh Balasubramanian, Product Manager GE Energy Storage Technologies. “This advanced industrial battery technology has the potential to set new standards for service life, compactness and sustainability.”

Because of its proprietary chemistry, the Durathon battery has the ability to provide back-up service for up to two decades. The battery has a high energy density that, along with its ability to replace current technology, minimizes installation costs. GE’s Durathon battery cells are fully recyclable, making the battery a truly sustainable technology.

GE’s new battery plant will be located in Schenectady, New York, and is expected to create 350 new jobs in the region. The facility has the advantage of being in close proximity to GE Global Research in Niskayuna, where researchers will continue to enhance the battery chemistry and related systems technologies. GE is making a $150 million investment to build upon the Durathon battery technology through the development of new materials, new manufacturing technologies and intelligent controls.

GE Energy just announced that its Jenbacher biogas engines have begun powering China’s largest chicken waste biogas-energy plant. The plant features a digester system that consumes 300 tons of manure and 500 tons of wastewater daily to produce biogas that is then used by three GE engines that generate electricity for the 19,000 square-meter [...]]]>

GE

GE Energy just announced that its Jenbacher biogas engines have begun powering China’s largest chicken waste biogas-energy plant. The plant features a digester system that consumes 300 tons of manure and 500 tons of wastewater daily to produce biogas that is then used by three GE engines that generate electricity for the 19,000 square-meter complex, as well as the local grid. The material leftover from the digester can later be used as fertilizer.

Having a gas: The Minhe Animal Husbandry facility is located six kilometers south of Penglai City in Shandong Province. It’s the biggest stud and meat chicken farm and the industry’s only stock-listed company in China.The company’s 23 chicken farms maintain a total of 1.5 million stud chickens and another 3.7 million chickens for meat production annually. Just to give an idea of how big the operation is, the facility produces 3 megawatts of electricity. That’s more than four times the amount generated by the Wisconsin dairy farm that uses GE’s technology that was featured in our video series in July.

In the process, the manure is circulated and anaerobic, or oxygen-free, digestion takes place. Microorganisms break down the organic waste, ultimately producing gas — mainly methane with some carbon dioxide. This gas can be burned just like natural gas, thus generating energy.

The use of chicken waste digester biogas to generate onsite power also is supporting China’s national economic goals to promote the use of renewable, distributed energy technologies to improve local reliability and reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions. Backed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the project is receiving financial support through the sale of carbon credits called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs).

Not only are GE Energy’s Jenbacher biogas engines popular within China’s animal husbandry industry, but their fuel flexibility and durability have established a following in other energy segments, including coal mine methane and landfill gas applications.

To meet China’s growing demand for GE’s onsite power technologies, in the last year GE has expanded its Jenbacher gas engine distributor presence throughout the country and opened a new regional gas engine packaging operation at GE’s manufacturing center in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province in southeast China.

GE made the announcement at CanWEA [...]]]> GE Energy’s most advanced wind turbine, the 2.5xl, is now available with a Cold Weather Extreme (CWE) package. The addition of the CWE package ensures that the 2.5xl wind turbine can operate in temperatures as low as -30°C, and in survival mode without operation, at temperatures as low as -40°C.

GE made the announcement at CanWEA 2009, sponsored by the Canadian Wind Energy Association. The CWE package is especially important for wind turbines that operate in Canada where cold temperatures are common. Earlier this year, GE announced that the 2.5xl, already proven in applications in Europe and Asia, will be launched in North America in 2010.

The CWE package originally was developed for GE’s 1.5-megawatt (MW) wind turbine and has been adapted for the 2.5xl, which is the latest evolution of the company’s wind turbine technology. “With more than 4,400 wind turbines on cold weather sites, GE is very experienced with operating wind turbines under challenging conditions,” said Vic Abate, vice president of renewables, GE Energy.

The 2.5xl represents GE’s most advanced wind turbine technology in terms of efficiency, reliability and grid connection capabilities. It is designed to yield the highest annual energy production in its class and builds upon the success of the GE 1.5 MW wind turbine, the world’s most widely deployed wind turbine with more than 12,000 now installed.

With its 2.5 MW generator, the 2.5xl can provide more output for projects where land is constrained and because of its strong acoustic performance, setback distances to noise receptors can be minimized, enabling installation of more units on a given plot of land.

“Despite the global economic challenges, we continue to see opportunities for continued growth in the North American wind industry,” said Abate. “Adding the cold weather extreme package to our 2.5xl design greatly expands our capabilities to meet the diverse needs of our customers.”

According to the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), Canada surpassed 2,000 megawatts of installed wind power capacity last year and is expected to exceed 3,000 megawatts in 2009. Wind currently supplies about one percent of Canada’s electricity demand, with the country’s wind turbines representing more than 2,800 megawatts of generating capacity, enough power to meet the needs of more than 860,000 homes. The province of Ontario is currently Canada’s wind leader with 1,162 megawatts of installed capacity, providing clean electricity for over 300,000 homes.

GE currently has a strong wind presence in Canada, with an installed base of 938 MW (39 percent) nationwide and 780 MW in Ontario (62 percent). GE is also a lead supporter of CanWEA’s “WindVision 2025” initiative to work with federal and provincial stakeholders to provide 20 percent of Canada’s electricity with wind power by 2025, resulting in an estimated 52,000 new “green collar” jobs and $79 billion in new investment nationwide

The new reactor design offers advanced safety features and cost-saving advantages [...]]]> GEH has completed its submittal of the design certification document for the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). With the submittal, GEH has provided detailed information for the NRC to proceed with evaluating the ESBWR design for certification.

The new reactor design offers advanced safety features and cost-saving advantages that are key in delivering the next generation of nuclear reactors worldwide.

Certification of GEH’s Generation III+ reactor design could help spearhead the deployment of next-generation nuclear reactors around the globe. Nuclear power can help meet rising energy demand and address climate change through its near-zero carbon emissions.

“As the United States debates energy policy, nuclear power should play a pivotal role, as nuclear generates virtually carbon-free electricity,” said Jack Fuller, GEH’s president and CEO. “Supportive government policy is the key to drive the adoption of cleaner energy standards that can light the path to a brighter energy future and reliable energy production.”

GEH believes the ESBWR’s features make it the most advanced reactor design in the world, including passive safety systems, a further simplified design and even higher safety margins than the already safe, deployed U.S. fleet.

Detroit Edison of Michigan and Dominion Energy of Virginia have submitted NRC license applications referencing the ESBWR. NuStart Energy, a U.S. Department of Energy-supported consortium of U.S. utilities, has selected the ESBWR to receive engineering, licensing and commercialization support through the NP 2010 Program.

By submitting a revised design certification document for the 1,520-MWe ESBWR on Aug. 31, GEH’s goal is to have the most complete portfolio of nuclear reactors certified by the NRC. Data from the NRC’s review will support GEH’s future project opportunities in Europe and other regions.

GEH’s portfolio of nuclear reactors also includes the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR), the world’s only Generation III reactor that has been certified in the United States and that has successful construction and operational experience. Four ABWRs are operating in Japan, and the global nuclear alliance of GE and Hitachi is building four more in Japan and Taiwan today.

The NRC certified GEH’s 1,350-MWe ABWR in 1997, and GEH has notified the NRC it intends to renew the ABWR design certification for an additional 15 years beyond 2012.

In the next era of U.S. nuclear plant construction, GEH will continue to apply advanced, modular construction techniques perfected by its global nuclear alliance during decades of uninterrupted plant construction in Asia.

GEH is pursuing global deployment opportunities with both the ESBWR and ABWR. In India, GEH has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering resources in manufacturing and construction management for a potential multiple-unit project. The MOU is with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, the country’s only nuclear utility, which operates 17 reactors.

ABWR and ESBWR reactors, compared to typical U.S. electricity production, would avoid the annual emission of 6.7 million tons of CO2, equivalent to the annual emissions of about 1.3 million cars.

The ABWR and ESBWR technologies are expected to have, respectively, up to 34 and 40 percent lower operating and maintenance costs per-kilowatt-hour than currently operating Generation I and II nuclear reactors in the United States. This is primarily because of their increased generating capacity, as well as increased capacity factor and systems simplifications.

Both the ESBWR and the ABWR reactor designs have earned recognition as GE ecomagination products. Ecomagination is GE’s corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing operational and environmental challenges.

About GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

Based in Wilmington, N.C., GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) is a world-leading provider of advanced reactors and nuclear services. Established in June 2007, GEH is a global nuclear alliance created by GE and Hitachi to serve the global nuclear industry. The nuclear alliance executes a single, strategic vision to create a broader portfolio of solutions, expanding its capabilities for new reactor and service opportunities. The alliance offers customers around the world the technological leadership required to effectively enhance reactor performance, power output and safety

As lawmakers in Washington, D.C., debate new federal climate-change legislation, Wisconsin’s dairy industry is leading the way in demonstrating the benefits of using cow manure methane digester biogas. In the last several years, [...]]]> GE Energy’s Jenbacher Onsite Biogas Power Solution Helps U.S. Dairy Farmers Reduce Site Emissions Wisconsin Agricultural Technology Expo Showcases GE’s ‘Cow-Powered’ Biogas-Energy Technology

As lawmakers in Washington, D.C., debate new federal climate-change legislation, Wisconsin’s dairy industry is leading the way in demonstrating the benefits of using cow manure methane digester biogas. In the last several years, a growing number of dairy farms in Wisconsin have installed GE Energy’s Jenbacher biogas engines to generate needed renewable electricity for onsite power and the local grid.

GE’s newly installed, advanced Jenbacher biogas engine technology is generating 633 kilowatts (kW) in renewable energy at the Crave Brothers Farm, LLC in Waterloo, Wisc..

Charles Crave, one of the farm’s co-owners said,

Installing GE Energy’s Jenbacher biogas technology is playing an important role in our ongoing initiatives to reduce the operational costs as well as the environmental impacts of our dairy operations. We hope that other dairy farms around the country adopt similar technologies in recognition of the agricultural community’s increasingly important role in addressing the country’s energy and climate-change concerns.

This week, Crave Brothers is hosting the 2009 Farm Technology Days, one of the country’s largest agricultural technology expositions. More than 80,000 people are expected to visit the Crave Brothers site, which is located about an hour west of Milwaukee.

Crave Brothers is a 29-year-old, family run dairy farm and on-site cheese plant that is nationally known for its progressive use of technologies to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations. The 1,700-acre farm currently has nearly 1,000 milk cows and 700 heifers.

By converting the manure to methane biogas and using it to generate electricity in GE’s Jenbacher unit, less greenhouse gas is able to escape into the atmosphere. The system also is helping Crave Brothers lower its operational costs, including through the sale of energy to the regional grid and more cost-effective manure management.

Crave Brothers originally had operated an older, less powerful biogas system to support some of the farm’s electricity requirements. However, the owners later installed GE’s Jenbacher technology after deciding they could be generating even more electricity with a more powerful Jenbacher engine, Crave said.

In May 2009, one of GE’s ecomagination-certified Jenbacher J312 biogas engines was commissioned at the Crave Brothers site and is generating 633 kW of electricity to support the site’s dairy operations. Surplus power from the engine is being sold to the regional grid in Wisconsin, which is aggressively supporting the expansion of renewable energy production.

Renewable energy developer Clear Horizons, which built and owns the digester biogas plant at the Crave Brothers site, is supplying the engine’s electricity to regional grid operator WE Energies, the trade name of Wisconsin Electric Power Co. and Wisconsin Gas LLC, the principal utility subsidiaries of Wisconsin Energy Corporation.

Widely accepted in Europe, the use of biogas digester systems with GE’s Jenbacher engines is a fairly new U.S. agri-business trend. In the past, some U.S. farmers had used old diesel motors and smaller gas engines until they began installing more durable, robust gas engines in recent years.

“Agricultural waste is one of the country’s leading sources of methane gas emissions and GE is pleased to help supply its proven gas engine technology to Crave Brothers as the U.S. farming community embraces this renewable energy technology,” said Roger George, general manager for GE’s Jenbacher gas engine business in North America.

Inland Power Group, GE’s Jenbacher gas engine distributor for the midwestern U.S., supplied the biogas engine to system operator/owner Clear Horizons.