GE Transportation, a unit of the General Electric Company, announced on May 12 the next step in its commitment to develop leading hybrid technology. The company announced plans to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant for advanced storage batteries.
The new battery business will be a part of GE Transportation and will serve customers in the rail, marine, mining, telecommunications and utility sectors. As the leading producer of diesel-electric locomotives, GE has a rich history of delivering breakthrough technologies that are today commonplace in the rail industry.
GE has invested more than $150 million to develop advanced battery technologies, including a high energy-density sodium-based chemistry battery that will provide energy storage for a variety applications, including GE Transportation’s ecomagination certified Evolution Hybrid Locomotive, mining truck drive system and tugboat electrification.
In addition, GE has launch customers in several industries, including mining, telecommunications and utility, with key applications for heavy service vehicles, backup storage and load leveling for the smart grid.
“We are very excited about the breakthrough in battery technology and the new production facility,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of GE Transportation. “This leading commercial-grade battery technology is essential in advancing our hybrid development programs and a vital step in the evolution of high-tech and green transportation solutions.”
The new $100 million production facility will be located in upstate New York in the Capital Region and will create 350 new manufacturing jobs. New York State has partnered with GE in this project by pledging more than $15 million in incentives. GE also is in the process of filing an application for U.S. Department of Energy stimulus funding for this project.
The facility, scheduled to be fully operational by mid-2011, will have the advantage of being in close proximity to GE Global Research in Niskayuna, where advances to the battery chemistry were developed. The batteries, which are a critical piece of energy storage systems, will rely heavily on new materials, new manufacturing technologies and intelligent controls.
The new battery business is led by Tina Donikowski, general manager of propulsion and specialty services at GE Transportation and has the potential to become a $1 billion business over the next decade. Donikowski is a 32-year veteran of GE and leads all GE transportation businesses associated with non-renewable and renewable energy including mining, marine, drilling and wind energy.
“Leading GE’s new battery business is an inspiring opportunity to contribute green technology that can have a significant impact on reducing our dependence on oil and lowering emissions worldwide,” said Donikowski.
At full capacity the plant could produce approximately 10 million cells. That translates to 900-megawatt hours of energy storage, or enough energy storage to power 1,000 U.S. homes for a month or enough energy to support 1,000 GE hybrid locomotives.
This battery technology will allow GE to be the first manufacturer to introduce a hybrid, heavy-haul freight locomotive that reduces emissions while improving fuel efficiency, putting GE well ahead of its competition.
Matthew K. Rose, chairman, president and CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, one of the world’s leading railroads, said, “Hybrid locomotives, and the battery technology on board, could be an important part of how we ship goods by rail in the future. The ability to produce a battery pack designed for rail applications is a significant milestone to producing a commercially available hybrid locomotive that will further enhance rail’s reputation as the most environmentally sound mode for moving freight in America."
GE Transportation introduced a demonstrator unit of the Evolution Hybrid locomotive in May 2007 and continues to further develop a hybrid locomotive that captures the energy dissipated during locomotive braking and store it in a series of sophisticated on-board batteries. The stored energy can then be used to provide locomotive power, cutting fuel consumption and emissions by as much as 10 percent over today’s state-of-the art locomotives. GE’s hybrid locomotive will be commercialized in 2010.
GE Transportation partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to demonstrate the world’s first and only hybrid drive system for heavy-haul mining trucks in January 2008. GE and Komatsu America Corporation tested the hybrid propulsion system on a 240-ton mining truck at the Komatsu proving grounds. This hybrid mining truck captures braking energy and stores it in the batteries providing a fuel savings of up to 10 percent and reduced emissions or an instant power boost up to 20 percent that increases speed on grade to reduce cycle times.
GE Transportation continues to research and develop emissions-reducing hybrid technology for workboats. The program is focused on helping to reduce diesel emissions in harbors and ports in densely populated areas from tugboats that idle approximately 80 percent of the time.
