Innovative Wood Gas Plant in Austria to Use GE Energy's Jenbacher Gas Engines


JENBACH, AUSTRIA - January 19, 2007 - GE Energy's Jenbacher gas engine business was recently awarded a contract to supply two highly efficient combined heat and power (CHP) units for a new, innovative wood gas project in the town of Oberwart in the Austrian province of Burgenland.

The decision by the customers in Burgenland to purchase Jenbacher gas engines comes after several years of successful operation of a Jenbacher CHP unit in the nearby town of Gessing, which also is using wood gas for power and heat. These developments further underscore GE Energy's competence in this segment of the special gas industry.

For the new project, GE Energy is supplying two Jenbacher JMS 612 GS-S/N.L engines to Ortner GmbH, which as the main contractor has been commissioned to design and construct the entire plant on behalf of Energie Oberwart Errichtungs-GmbH. Ortner GmbH is responsible for the overall engineering, construction, systems engineering, and instrumentation and control equipment. The project is scientifically supported by the Vienna University of Technology's Institute of Chemical Engineering.

The plant is expected to be commissioned in November 2007, providing an electrical output of more than 2 megawatts (MW) and thermal output of six MW. The generated heat will be fed into the district heating system operated by Energie Oberwart, supplying heating to the local hospital and future facilities in the industrial area of Nord. The plant's produced electricity will be fed into the local public grid.

Part of the electrical power will be obtained from exhaust gas heat using an organic Rankine cycle, or ORC process. The ORC process is based on a process similar to the water/steam cycle, but instead of water, it utilizes an organic working medium with superior volatility properties to water. The produced steam from the ORC process is used to drive a steam turbine that generates electricity by means of a generator.

A fluidized steam gasifier first converts the wood into a low-tar gas with a calorific value of 2.7 kWh/m3N and a comparatively high hydrogen content (30 - 40 percent vol.). The two Jenbacher engines will produce electrical power from this wood gas, while the exhaust heat from the engines is used for the ORC process and district heating.

Through the use of modern control technology such as the Jenbacher DIA.NE XT engine management system, the characteristic fluctuations in the composition of the wood gas are smoothly managed. Additionally, Jenbacher gas engines are able to react quickly to varying calorific values of the gas, offering precise monitoring of the combustion process in the engine and effective coordination of the engine and gasifier.

In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the use of special gases produced by gasification processes for energy supplies, contributing to the use of alternative energy sources and significantly reducing environmental impacts; such gases are mainly those from biogenic raw materials and waste, as well as landfill gases. GE's Jenbacher gas engines, using the latest gas engine technology, are ideally suited for the efficient combustion of such gases.

GE Energy's Jenbacher gas engine business is a leading manufacturer of gas-fueled reciprocating engines, packaged generator sets and cogeneration systems for power generation. GE's Jenbacher gas engines run on natural gas or a variety of specialty waste gases, including landfill gas.

About GE Energy
GE Energy (www.ge.com/energy) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with 2005 revenue of $16.5 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels.

Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE's corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. GE's Jenbacher biogas as well as landfill and coal mine gas solutions have been certified as an ecomagination product.

For more information, contact:

Serena Levy, Ken Darling, or Tom Murnane
GE Energy
Masto Public Relations
+1 678 844 5423
+1 518 786 6488
serena.levy@ge.com kenneth.darling@ge.com
tom.murnane@mastopr.com

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