GE awarded Benchmark of Excellence

MANILA, Philippines - GE (NYSE: GE) confirmed that four projects it filed under a European Commission initiative for cities (The Covenant of Mayors) are among the first projects to be awarded the “Benchmark of Excellence.” A Benchmark of Excellence is awarded to a city initiative that represents a world-class successful implementation of sustainable energy technologies.

The successful cities that GE partnered with for the Benchmark of Excellence are: Dunkirk (France), Verona (Italy), Motril (Spain), and Budapest (Hungary). The Covenant of Mayors is a European Commission initiative under which more than 1,000 cities have committed to reduce their CO2 emissions by more than 20 percent by 2020, exceeding the existing EU targets. As part of this initiative, the Commission developed the concept of “Benchmarks of Excellence” for energy-efficient solutions in an urban setting with the aim of creating a best practice forum for cities. This best practice forum will recognize the pioneering role of cities in tackling climate change while at the same time facilitating wide dissemination to other cities and regions of successful projects developed in cooperation with industry and other stakeholders.

“GE has been working with cities and regions in Europe for over a hundred years and we are delighted to be associated with this excellent European initiative. GE believes that cities are key to tackling the issue of climate change as they generate an estimated 75 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Cities have been at the forefront of the drive to reduce carbon emissions while GE has been developing new technologies to help facilitate this and help drive cost savings for our city customers at the same time. Using local solutions is the best way to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change,” says Steve Fludder, GE vice president, Ecomagination.

Two cogeneration projects by GE Jenbacher in Dunkirk, France and Verona, Italy were awarded the Benchmark of Excellence. In Dunkirk, a Jenbacher natural gas cogeneration system contributes to the region’s district heating and boasts plant efficiencies of 85 percent, compared to a EU average of less than 40 percent. In Verona, Jenbacher’s biogas cogeneration system generates electricity and heat, and similarly has a plant efficiency of 85 percent.

GE also partnered on two successful lighting projects in Motril, Spain and Budapest, Hungary. In Motril, a retrofit of the city’s outdoor lighting has resulted in average energy savings of 25 percent while in Budapest, through a schools’ illumination program, energy savings of 40 percent were recorded in the city’s schools after upgrading the lighting systems. In Budapest, the cost of the project was entirely financed by the energy savings generated.

GE is the only private company whose projects with cities have been awarded more than one Benchmark of Excellence under the Covenant of Mayors. For more information see www.eumayors.eu.