GE Natural Gas Plant ‘Will Help Meet Renewable Goals’

GE has announced a “first-of-its-kind” natural gas power plant that rapidly ramps up and down in response to fluctuating output from wind and solar installations.

The FlexEfficiency 50, unveiled today in Paris, is a 510 MW combined cycle plant that offers fuel efficiency greater than 61 percent. GE says the plant’s biggest breakthrough lies in its ability to offer both flexibility and efficiency, while most power plants today offer one or the other. This ability is essential to large-scale, cost-effective integration of renewables into the grid, GE says.

“With global energy demand expected to double by 2030 and electricity generation accounting for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, utilities and government bodies are taking a hard look at how to produce power more efficiently,” said Ricardo Cordoba, president of GE Energy for Western Europe and North Africa.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/05/25/ge-natural-gas-plant-will-help-meet-renewable-goals/