Engines, wind & desert tech: It’s been busy at GE

It’s not just new jobs in Kentucky and a giant joint venture in the Middle East that have kept GE in the news this week. There’s been a slew of activity, from aviation contracts to wind energy plans to new offices in Bahrain.

Under the hood: GE’s T700/CT7 engine family is the most widely used in its class — powering 25 types of rotary and fixed-wing aircraft for close to 130 customers in 55 countries.

In aviation, two separate long-term service deals for helicopters and commercial jets were inked. The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command awarded GE Aviation a contract to overhaul up to 757 engines for the SH-60 helicopter – which is the Navy’s version of the Black Hawk — over the next five years. The overhauls will be performed at GE’s Engine Services operation in Strother, Kansas – and if the maintenance options are completely exercised, the estimated total value could top $100 million.

* Read the announcement

At the same time, Engine Alliance, the 50/50 joint venture of GE and Pratt & Whitney, formalized a deal valued at over $3 billion to service engines used in the fleet of Airbus A380s used by Emirates airlines. It covers the repair and overhaul of the GP7200 engines, which draw on technology from GE’s successful GE90 and Pratt & Whitney’s PW4000 engine. The letter of agreement was first announced in November 2007 at the Dubai Air Show.

* Read the announcement
* Read the Bloomberg News story
* Learn more about GE’s jet engines

Meanwhile, in wind power, GE Energy Financial Services announced that it has signed an agreement with EarthFirst Canada Inc. to consider purchasing the up to 300-megawatt Dokie Ridge Wind Project, the largest wind farm project under construction in British Columbia, Canada. Subject to certain conditions, the deal would result in a partnership with Plutonic Power Corporation, which would own and operate the project.

EarthFirst has reported that the Dokie Phase 1 Project, once completed, would generate 340 gigawatt-hours annually; enough electricity to meet the annual needs of 34,000 homes and avoid more than 229,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from a coal plant or the equivalent of taking 44,000 cars off the road. In addition to the Dokie Project, GE Energy Financial Services and Plutonic are partnering on three hydroelectric projects in British Columbia.

* Read the announcement
* Learn more about GE Energy Financial Services

And fresh off of the news about GE’s joint venture in Abu Dhabi, GE opened up a new office and technology center in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, which is an island country in the Persian Gulf. The new facility will house more than 100 employees, including engineering and service specialists. Part of the facility is GE Energy’s Customer Application Center, which is unique to the region as it offers educational programs, conferences, product training and hands-on operational experience to customers as well as the ability to conduct systems testing. For the first time, customers will be able to witness how GE’s latest plant optimization and control technology can help improve plant efficiency and reliability. The new center in Bahrain is similar to facilities established by GE Energy in Florence, Italy; Singapore; Shanghai, China; Houston, USA and Moscow, Russia.

* Read the announcement
* Watch a video about our work in the region