GE to sink $1 billion into energy efficiency, storage venture
General Electric last week said it would develop a new business arm aimed at energy efficiency, putting $1 billion into the venture. The new business group will focus on commercial and industrial, utility and municipal customers, providing them with both hardware and software.
More details are expected in the coming weeks.
In a seperate annnouncement made by GE Power & Water, the company said it would be working with Exelon Generation and PSEG on a digital power plant that would be powered by GE’s Predix platform.
“The world is expected to need 50% more power over the next 20 years, including providing electricity for the 1.3 billion people without access today,” Steve Bolze, president and CEO of GE Power & Water, said in a statement. “At the same time, the electricity industry is undergoing a radical digital transformation unlocking whole new opportunities.”
The new software involved will allow the digital power plants to be as responsive as batteries,opening up new opportunities in grid operators’ capacity and ancillary services markets, said a company spokesman. GE said it expects central generation of energy to account for up to 95% of the energy mix by 2025, and the new product would allow industry to optimize infrastructure and minimize impacts. Savings to the power industry will reach $75 billion in avoided generation, GE said.
“Imagine the benefits to our global economy and society when the power source of the world’s economy, electricity, is as digitally connected and efficient as the modern technologies dependent on that electrical power,” Bolze said.
