Second GE 7H Gas Turbine Shipped for Milestone Project in California
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - December 12, 2006 - GE Energy has shipped its second Frame 7H gas turbine for the Inland Empire Energy Center in Southern California, the commercial launch site for the 60-hertz version of GE's most advanced gas turbine combined-cycle technology.
The 7H left GE's Greenville, S.C. gas turbine manufacturing facility in early December to begin a journey by land and sea to the project location in Romoland, near Riverside, Calif. In mid-January, the unit will join another 7H gas turbine that is currently being installed at the site.
The new power plant is expected to enter commercial service by the summer of 2008, in time to help offset state-forecasted energy shortfalls in Southern California. The two GE 107H combined-cycle systems at the site will produce nearly 800 megawatts, or enough power to supply nearly 600,000 households.
The 7H is the 60-hertz version of GE's H System(TM), the world's first combined-cycle technology designed with the capability to reach 60 percent thermal efficiency. The high efficiency of the H System means less fuel is used, resulting in fewer emissions for each megawatt of electricity produced.
"The Inland Empire Energy Center will be one of the most advanced combined-cycle power plants in North America," said John Reinker, general manager of heavy duty gas turbine and combined-cycle products for GE Energy. "Operating on natural gas, this highly efficient plant will provide cleaner power for the people of California while also helping to increase the state's energy security."
An innovative steam cooling system developed by GE for the H System enables the higher firing temperatures required for increased efficiency. In addition, the H turbines' first-stage buckets and nozzles were designed with single-crystal materials to withstand higher temperatures over a long service life.
The H System is a key component of GE ecomagination, a corporate-wide initiative to develop and market technologies that will help customers address pressing environmental challenges.
GE will finance and own the Inland Empire Energy Center, while Calpine Power Services is managing plant construction. Calpine Energy Services will market the plant's output and manage fuel requirements under a long-term marketing arrangement with GE. Following an extended period of GE ownership, Calpine expects to purchase the plant and become its sole owner and operator, with GE continuing to provide critical plant maintenance services under a long-term agreement with Calpine.
The Inland Empire Energy Center is the third application of GE's H technology worldwide. The first two applications, both 50-hertz projects, are the Baglan Bay Power Station in Port Talbot, South Wales, where the world's first 9H began operation in 2003 and has surpassed 18,000 fired hours; and Tokyo Electric Power Company's Futtsu Thermal Power Station Group 4, which will feature three 9H gas turbines. The first Futtsu unit was shipped in June of 2006.
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.
For more information, contact:
Dennis Murphy
GE Energy
+1 678 844 6948
dennis1.murphy@ge.com
Ken Darling or Howard Masto
Masto Public Relations
+1 518 786 6488
kenneth.darling@ge.com
howard.masto@ge.com
