It’s been a busy week across a number of GE’s different energy businesses, from advanced coal technology to nuclear and wind power.


Deep thoughts: This graphic shows how carbon storage would work, with the captured carbon eventually being dissolved in the rocks over time. GE Energy is already a leader in technology that converts coal and other heavy fuels into a high-value fuel, known as synthesis gas or syngas. This technology is pictured as the “IGCC Plant,” which stands for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle. The syngas is cleaned and then used in efficient combined-cycle systems to generate electricity.

On the one hand, GE is joining Australia’s government-supported initiative that is pushing for the development and deployment of advanced coal technology — so called “carbon capture and storage” projects. In the agreement signed today with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, GE is becoming a founding member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, or GCCSI, and Australia has pledged $100 million to help fund it. As the news service Agence France Presse describes it, “The institute’s goal is to develop technology capable of “geosequestration” — where carbon dioxide gases from coal that are blamed for global warming are captured, compressed and stored in stable rock formations in the Earth’s crust. It aims to develop 20 commercially viable carbon capture and storage plants globally by 2020.”

* Read “Australia launches ‘clean coal’ institute”
* Read GE’s announcement


Up and atom: In February, ENSA of Spain received a “bottom head” forging from Japan Steel Works. The forging is one of six that ENSA will use to fabricate GEH’s pressure vessel, which houses the reactor.

At the same time, the nuclear power team at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is focusing on the long-term by laying the groundwork for what may become a renaissance in nuclear power plant construction. In an agreement announced this week, they named Spanish manufacturer ENSA as a key supplier of heavy components for their nuclear reactors. While the agreement doesn’t involve new sales contracts, it’s important because GE Hitachi is aiming to ramp up its supply chain in anticipation of deploying the next generation of nuclear reactors in strategic markets around the world. With no new nuclear power plants having been built in the United States for decades, a portion of the nuclear component supply chain has shrunk over the years. The new agreement gives GE Hitachi the flexibility and strength to more quickly grow capacity and meet the anticipated new needs of customers around the globe.

* Read the announcement
* Read about GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy signing two agreements with India last month

And in wind energy, John Krenicki, vice chairman of GE and president and CEO of GE Energy Infrastructure, just met with state and local elected officials at our Greenville, South Carolina plant to underscore the need for national renewable energy standards. John told reporters that the renewable energy standards currently being considered by Congress could boost the wind energy business in Greenville, where many of the wind turbines are made. “What we’d like to see to really bring it home and to make Greenville huge in wind is renewable energy standards,” John said. Legislation currently before Congress would require electric utilities to generate a certain amount of their power through zero-carbon methods such as wind and solar power.

* Read “Green energy plan could drive GE jobs”
* Read “GE Energy chief predicts growth for Greenville-built turbines”
* Learn about other renewables legislation being considered