China deals span coal, high-speed rail & locomotives

A flurry of announcements flew out of GE’s Clean Technology Week in China, with new agreements announced today that cover cleaner coal technology, high-speed rail, and locomotive manufacturing. The deals not only further cement the role that GE’s advanced technologies are playing in in the heart of China’s booming economy, they are creating jobs in both countries, including about 500 in the U.S. Today’s deals follow Sunday’s announcement that GE Aviation and China’s AVIC Systems are creating a global avionics joint venture for commercial aircraft, and yesterday’s news that China is buying 300 Evolution Series locomotive assemblies to upgrade its existing fleet. In the video below, Mark Norbom, President and CEO of GE in Greater China, describes the impact that the deals will have.

Mark Norbom, President and CEO of GE in Greater China, describes the impact that an array of new agreements between GE and China in the energy, transportation and aviation sectors will have on the company and the region

Monte Atwell

In the area of cleaner coal technology, GE Energy and Shenhua Group Corporation have agreed to a framework for an industrial coal gasification joint venture. It covers research and development on new cleaner coal technologies with the goal to improve the cost structure and the performance of commercial scale gasification plants.

As Monte Atwell, General Manager of the Gasification group at GE Energy, explains in the audio clip below: “This proposed joint venture would combine GE’s expertise in gasification and cleaner power generation technologies with Shenhua’s expertise in building and operating coal gasification and coal-fired power generation facilities.”

The cleaner coal joint venture will involve the technology known as an integrated gasification combined cycle system, which uses a complex mix of chemical scrubbers and systems to produce electricity with much lower emissions than conventional coal plants.

Cleaner coal: The cleaner coal joint venture will involve the technology known as an integrated gasification combined cycle system, which uses a complex mix of chemical scrubbers and systems to produce electricity with much lower emissions than conventional coal plants. The partners will also jointly pursue the deployment of commercial scale IGCC plants with the ability to capture and store carbon.

Lorenzo Simonelli

At the same time, GE and China’s Ministry of Railways are partnering to accelerate the development of high-speed rail projects in the U.S. While GE is the world leader in diesel-electric locomotive technology, it currently doesn’t make locomotives for high-speed rail travel. The goal of the new partnership is to more effectively compete against European and Japanese companies for high-speed rail related opportunities. It would create in the near future about 150 high technology jobs in the U.S. and would sustain approximately 3,500 U.S. jobs over time. At least 80 percent of the content would be sourced from the U.S. and all final assembly will take place in the U.S. In the audio clip below, Lorenzo Simonelli, President and CEO of GE Transportation, explains the partnerships and deals.

CSR Qishuyan Locomotive Co., Ltd. placed an order for 300 Evolution Series locomotive assemblies in a deal announced on Sunday. The agreement helps to sustain nearly 1,200 clean-technology jobs in the U.S and follows an order of 300 Evolution Series China Mainline Locomotives originally placed in 2005.

Locomotive assemblies order: CSR Qishuyan Locomotive Co., Ltd. placed an order for 300 Evolution Series locomotive assemblies in a deal announced on Sunday. The agreement helps to sustain nearly 1,200 clean-technology jobs in the U.S and follows an order of 300 Evolution Series China Mainline Locomotives originally placed in 2005. The companies announced today that they are also forming a joint venture to develop, build and service GE’s Evolution Series locomotive diesel engines in China, where there is significant opportunity for modernization. Of the 12,000 diesel locomotives in China, only a small fraction use advanced technology.

Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, said the agreements share common themes: “rapid growth potential, clean technologies and job creation. “New global sales will be a direct result of these collaborations,” he said, “safeguarding and growing U.S. jobs while supporting Chinese growth for GE businesses and the Chinese aviation, energy and transportation industries.”

On Sunday, GE Aviation and AVIC Systems announced that they would create a global avionics business to develop and market integrated systems for commercial aircraft customers.

Avionics joint venture: On Sunday, GE Aviation and AVIC Systems announced that they would create a global avionics business to develop and market integrated systems for commercial aircraft customers. The first goal is to bid for the electronic systems work that will be required for China’s new 168-seat, single aisle passenger jet that is currently being built. The joint venture then hopes to win contracts with other global aviation players, such as Boeing and Airbus.

GE Vice Chairman John Rice discusses the deals in the CNBC interview below:

* Read “Joint aviation venture with China to create 200 US jobs” on GE Reports
* All of the week’s press releases are available at http://www.ge.com/chinanews
* See videos in: “A cleaner path to coal: The ABCs of IGCC technology”
* Read “California plant picks GE’s advanced coal technology” on GE Reports
* Read GE Reports’ story about capturing carbon from IGCC plants
* Read “GE’s first ‘made-in-China’ locomotive hits the rails”
* Read “From Erie to Mongolia: GE’s Evo locomotive arrives” on GE Reports