- GE's Jenbacher Combined Heat and Power Plant Generating Reliable Electricity and Heat for Regensburg Auto Factory
- GE's Gas Engines Have Supported Automobile Maker's Factories for More than 30 Years
- Project Shows How Cogeneration Helps Industries Meet Production and Energy Efficiency Goals
JENBACH, AUSTRIA---January 22, 2013---Automobile manufacturer BMW Group has once again turned to GE's (NYSE: GE) Gas Engines distributed power technology by installing four Jenbacher J616 cogeneration modules at BMW's Regensburg factory in Bavaria, Germany. The cogeneration plant is generating 10.7 megawatts (MW) of reliable on-site power and meeting about 30 percent of the factory's energy needs.
In addition to generating electricity, the cogeneration plant is capturing and utilizing 9.6 MW of engine waste heat to support the factory's production processes. For example, the plant will combine the engine waste heat with existing boilers to provide heating during the winter. The facility will have an electrical efficiency of up to 44.9 percent and a thermal efficiency of up to 40.4 percent, with a combined efficiency of up to 85.3 percent.
GE's ecomagination-qualified Jenbacher gas engines are ideally suited to meet BMW's stringent requirements for reliability, durability and efficiency. For example, in the event of a blackout or service disruption to the national grid, the natural gas-fueled CHP plant can continue to operate the Regensburg factory's emergency lights.
Since the early 1980s, Jenbacher gas engines have been providing reliable on-site power and heat in several of the auto company's production facilities.
In addition to supplying the Jenbacher CHP units, GE is installing piping, cabling and a ventilation system and dismantling the factory's old power plant. GE also will provide services for the CHP plant under a comprehensive agreement.
"We are proud to once again use our gas engines to support a company like BMW, which has a reputation for high-quality production," said Karl Wetzlaymer, general manager of gas engines for power generation---GE Power & Water. "The Regensburg project clearly demonstrates the ability of our engines to ensure dependable and efficient local energy supplies that enable our industrial and trade customers to meet their production goals while also keeping their costs under control."
The Regensburg factory CHP plant project is the latest BMW facility to utilize GE's Jenbacher gas engines for reliable on-site power during the past four decades:
BMW plant | Steyr | Leipzig | Landshut | Regensburg |
Jenbacher engines installed | 4 x J420 | 1 x J620 | 2 x J420 | 4 x J616 |
Total electrical output | 5.6 MW | 3.0 MW | 2.8 MW | 10.7 MW |
Total thermal output | 6.1 MW | 3.12 MW | 2.75 MW | 9.6 MW |
Type of gas | Natural gas | Natural gas | Natural gas | Natural gas |
Commissioning | 1982/2008[1] | 2008 | 2007 | 2011 |
"The project illustrates the increased demand that GE is seeing for its fuel-flexible gas engines to help industrial and municipal customers throughout Europe generate their own on-site power and heat to meet their increasingly stringent environmental and energy efficiency goals," Wetzlmayer noted.
Many of GE's Jenbacher products are ecomagination-qualified, providing customers with products that improve their operating performance and reduce environmental impact. Ecomagination is GE's business strategy to help meet customers' demand for products that improve their bottom line and reduce their impact on the environment.
GE's portfolio of innovative distributed power solutions gives businesses and communities around the world the ability to generate reliable and efficient power using a variety of fuels anywhere, whether on or off the grid. GE's distributed power solutions gives customers of all types---including industrial businesses, developing communities, government agencies managing disaster relief and other emergency power situations---the ability to generate reliable, sustainable power whenever and wherever it is needed. GE's distributed power portfolio includes GE aeroderivative gas turbines, Jenbacher and Waukesha gas engines and Clean Cycle waste heat recovery solutions.
Offering customers flexible fuel capabilities, low emissions and high efficiency, GE's Gas Engines business specializes in developing local power and gas compression solutions that deliver cleaner, more efficient, more affordable energy to customers around the world. The business is a manufacturer of gas-fueled engines, generator sets, CHP modules, Organic Rankine Cycle systems and auxiliaries ranging from 0.12 to 9.5 MW for industries from agriculture to oil and gas. With a legacy of technological innovation across three product lines, including Jenbacher gas engines, Waukesha gas engines and Heat Recovery solutions, GE's Gas Engines business employs more than 2,600 people worldwide.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
About GE Power & Water
GE Power & Water provides customers with a broad array of power generation, energy delivery and water process technologies to solve their challenges locally. Power & Water works in all areas of the energy industry including renewable resources such as wind and solar, biogas and alternative fuels; and coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. The business also develops advanced technologies to help solve the world's most complex challenges related to water availability and quality. Power & Water's six business units include Distributed Power, Nuclear Energy, Power Generation Services, Renewable Energy, Thermal Products and Water & Process Technologies. Headquartered in Schenectady, N.Y., Power & Water is GE's largest industrial business.
Follow GE Power & Water on Twitter @GE_PowerWater.
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