GE Energy Supplying Wind Turbines For New GE Project in Germany
55-MW Wind Project Acquired by GE Energy Financial Services
SALZBERGEN, GERMANY - September 21, 2005 - Construction recently began on a new wind farm in the Alsleben-Schackstedt region of Germany that will feature 37 GE 1.5-megawatt wind turbines and will add 55.5 megawatts of installed wind power capacity to the country's electricity grid.
Located 70 kilometers northwest of Leipzig, the project was developed by EAB Technology Group and recently acquired by GE Energy Financial Services in its third investment in wind power generation in Germany. Over the coming years, GE Energy Financial Services intends to increase its investment in Europe's growing energy markets, particularly in high quality renewable energy projects like wind power.
"The acquisition of the Alsleben Wind Project, one of Germany's largest, further underscores the investment community's increasing interest in wind energy," said Robert Gleitz, general manager of GE Energy's wind segment. "In the future, GE's recently announced ecomagination initiative, which provides for a doubling of GE's current research spending by 2010 to develop cleaner and more efficient products and services, including wind, will further support this trend." Announced in May of this year, GE's
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ecomagination initiative is a company-wide commitment to address pressing environmental challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water.
Construction of the Alsleben project will include a power substation and upgrade of transmission lines. It is scheduled to enter commercial service by the end of March 2006. Once fully operational, the wind farm will produce enough energy annually to power about 30,000 homes and will save approximately 100,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions, as compared to equivalent fossil fuel generation. EAB Technology Group, the project developer and construction manager, will continue as technical advisor. GE Energy's wind energy unit will provide installation and maintenance services for the project on a long-term basis.
GE's 1.5-megawatt wind turbines are among the mostly widely used megawatt-class wind turbines in the global energy industry, with more than 3,300 of these machines installed worldwide totaling more than 4,800 megawatts of capacity.
Germany is the world's leading producer of wind energy, with 17,132 megawatts of installed wind power capacity by June of 2005, according to Deutsches Windenergie-Institut (DEWI), the German wind energy institute. BTM Consult of Denmark, a leading industry consultant, reports that Germany's installed wind capacity is expected to surpass 26,000 megawatts by the end of 2009.
GE Energy's wind business has a strong presence in Germany. Its European headquarters is Salzbergen, where the company maintains a wind turbine manufacturing
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plant. In addition, GE's wind operations in Germany and across Europe are supported by the GE Global Research Center-Europe in Munich. One of the central missions of this center is to further increase the reliability and performance of wind turbines.
GE Energy Financial Services, based in Stamford, Conn., with European operations based in London, invests about $3 billion annually in the world's most capital-intensive industry, energy. With more than $12 billion in assets, GE Energy Financial Services offers structured equity, leveraged leasing, partnerships, project finance and broad-based commercial finance to the global energy industry from wellhead to wall socket. GE Energy Financial Services has developed a strong track record investing in solar, biomass, hydro, wind and geothermal power, and is growing its portfolio of more than a half-billion dollars in renewable energy assets. For more information, visit www.geenergyfinancialservices.com.
About GE Energy
GE Energy (www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2004 revenue of $17.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries.
With wind turbine design, manufacturing and assembly facilities in Germany, Spain and the United States, GE Energy's current wind energy portfolio includes wind turbines with rated outputs ranging from 1.5 to 3.6 megawatts, and support services
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ranging from project development assistance to operation and maintenance. The company's knowledge base includes the development and/or installation of more than 7,500 wind turbines with a total capacity exceeding 6,200 megawatts.
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For more information, contact:
Dennis Murphy Ken Darling or Howard Masto
GE Energy Masto Public Relations
+1 678 844 6948 +1 518 786 6488
dennis.murphy@ps.ge.com kenneth.darling@ps.ge.com
howard.masto@ps.ge.com
