GE announces $1.4 billion investment to meet world’s need for on-site power

MANILA, Philippines - Vice chairman John G. Rice and Lorraine Bolsinger, leader of GE’s new Distributed Power business, gathered  with business and government officials in Jakarta to launch GE’s Distributed Power, a new business that combines three product lines — Aeroderivative Gas Turbines, Jenbacher Gas Engines and Waukesha Gas Engines — aimed to better serve the distributed power space. GE announced an investment in the newly created business of $1.4 billion over four years to help meet the world’s growing demand for on-site power systems that are easier to finance, faster to install and more efficient and reliable for customers.

In a white paper released during the event, “The Rise of Distributed Power,” GE highlights that distributed power has become increasingly popular in countries that are seeking more reliable, efficient energy options near the point of use — on or off the grid. According to the report, distributed power will grow 40 percent faster than global electricity demand between now and 2020.

More communities and businesses are installing distributed power technologies to improve access to electricity in remote areas with poor or non-existent electric grids, according to the paper. In addition, in both developing and developed economies, industry is using distributed power to improve industrial and residential energy efficiency and ensure they have emergency power in the event of natural disasters and other unplanned outages. At the same time, the oil and gas industry relies heavily on on-site power to provide electricity to remote operations as well as mechanical power to pump and compress gas.

Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO of GE’s Distributed Power business, said, “With more than 1.3 billion people lacking access to reliable power today, our Distributed Power business is ideally positioned to serve communities in both developing and industrialized countries where we see a growing demand  for distributed power solutions to improve local energy security and comply with more stringent environmental regulations. The proliferation of distributed power systems is benefitting people and industries around the world because power is crucial to improving the quality of life and economic development.”

GE also announced a number of agreements during the launch event, including:

Two memoranda of understanding (MOU) with Clean Power Indonesia (CPI) and PLN for the development and deployment of its integrated biomass gasification power system in Indonesia, with potential to further diversify Indonesia’s fuel mix by creating power from sustainable, local bamboo and wood sources.

Two major Southeast Asia gas engine supply and service agreements with distributed power project developer Navigat Energy Pte Ltd to provide 100 new Jenbacher gas engines that will generate a total of 330 megawatts at a number of independent power production sites in Indonesia and Thailand.

A separate 10-year material stream agreement under which Navigat will provide preventive maintenance on GE’s installed fleet of 100 J620 Jenbacher gas engines that are driving on-site power projects in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

A MOU for GE to supply Navigat with two J920 FleXtra natural gas-fueled engines.

A contract for GE to provide four Waukesha 12V275GL+ gas engines and two VGF48GL units to help upgrade Pertamina’s Lembak gas compression station facility near Palembang City. This project will increase the gas transmission pressure to the customer’s liquid stripping plant and fertilizing plant.

An agreement between GE and Malaysian company Green & Smart Sdn Bhd (GNS), which entails providing a proven solution for waste-to-power using GNS’ patented technology in anaerobic digestors and GE’s Jenbacher gas engine technology to produce power and supply to the Malaysian electricity grid.

GE Oil & Gas and GE’s Distributed Power businesses signed a memorandum of understanding with PLN Enjiniring to develop an integrated virtual pipeline power generation pilot project in remote islands of Indonesia. The project will pull from GE Oil & Gas’ Distributed Gas Solutions portfolio of small-scale, modular natural gas fueling solutions combined with Distributed Power’s power generation gas turbine and engine technology to offer a comprehensive marginal gas-to-power solution with no pipeline infrastructure, known as a “virtual” pipeline.