PORT TALBOT, Wales--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2004--GE Energy today hosted a visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, to the Baglan Bay Power Station in Port Talbot, Wales, U.K.
Her Majesty officially dedicated the power plant, which was built and is being operated by GE as global showcase for the world's most advanced gas turbinecombined-cycle technology.
We are greatly honored and pleased that Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness were able to join us today for the dedication of this unique plant, said Mark Little, Vice President-Energy Products for GE Energy. In addition to its significance for the global power industry, this project is bringing economic benefits to the southern region of Wales.
The new power plant was built by GE on land leased from BP. It entered service in September of 2003 and has compiled nearly 5,000 hours of commercial service, providing electricity to the Baglan Energy Park, with the remaining electricity going to the U.K. national grid.
The Baglan Bay plant is the world's first application of GE's H System(TM), the first gas-fired, combined-cycle system designed with the capability to achieve 60% thermal efficiency, a new milestone for the power industry. Higher thermal efficiency leads to lower cost of producing electricity and lower emissions per unit of electricity produced.
The H System installed at Baglan Bay Power Station is capable of producing 480 megawatts of electricity, enough for half a million households. In combined-cycle technology, the exhaust heat from a gas turbine drives a steam turbine to generate additional power, thus increasing fuel efficiency.
The heart of the H System is GE's 9H gas turbine. With a length of 39 feet, a diameter of 16 feet and a weight of more than 800,000 pounds - more than a typical train or a Boeing 747 aircraft - it is one of the world's largest gas turbines.
More than 1,300 workers, most of them from Wales, participated in the construction of the plant. In addition to direct employment, many local firms provided goods and services required during the course of construction. Source Baglan, the initiative sponsored by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council to maximize local content, estimated that more than 150 businesses supported the project either directly or indirectly.
As a global technology showcase, the plant is expected to provide long-term benefits for the Port Talbot area by attracting engineers, scientists and businessmen from around the world to visit the region.
About GE Energy
GE Energy (gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2003 revenues of nearly $18.5 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries.
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