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GE Provides Service Flexibility to SSE in Fleet-Wide Agreement

^{Published on 2010-11-04 06:26:33 - Market Wire}
 

PERTH, Scotland--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--SSE Generation Ltd., the wholly owned generation business of SSE plc, has signed a comprehensive and flexible service agreement with GE (NYSE: GE) covering its fleet of 127 GE wind turbines in operation across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

"GEa™s solution provides us with an unprecedented level of service flexibility for our fleet of installed GE wind turbines."

The new agreement will provide a wide range of technical support services for SSEa™s GE wind turbines, allowing SSE the flexibility to customize technical support services on a site-by-site basis. Service scope will be split between GE and SSEa™s own service teams depending upon the respective teama™s regional capability.

aWith the expansion of the onshore wind generation fleet, we needed new ideas and strategies to manage our fleet while continuing to manage safety, long-term integrity and costs,a said Jeremy Williamson, onshore wind generation manager of SSE Generation. aGEa™s solution provides us with an unprecedented level of service flexibility for our fleet of installed GE wind turbines.a

All of the wind turbines covered under the new service agreement are GE 1.5-megawatt units, the most widely deployed wind turbines in the global wind industry with more than 14,000 installed worldwide. The agreement includes GEa™s highly-specialized technology for remote monitoring, troubleshooting and support as well as routine maintenance. In addition, SSE will benefit from GEa™s wind turbine upgrades, parts and access to state-of-the-art training from GEa™s Energy Learning Center.

aOur agreement with SSE Generation demonstrates our ability to allow our customers to customize their preferred level of support, putting us at the forefront of the wind industry,a said Diarmaid Mulholland, wind services general managera"renewable energy for GE Power & Water. aWe believe this approach maximizes the resources and the expertise that can be applied toward ensuring the long-term, reliable and profitable operation of our wind turbines.a

SSE owns approximately 10,700 megawatts of electricity generation capacity, making it the second largest electricity generator across the United Kingdom and Ireland. This includes 4,500 megawatts of gas and oil fired capacity, 4,000 megawatts of coal fired capacity and more than 2,200 megawatts of renewable energy capacity.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the worlda™s toughest challenges. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, health care solutions and television programming, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's website at [ www.ge.com ].

GE serves the energy sector by developing and deploying technology that helps make efficient use of natural resources. With nearly 85,000 global employees and 2009 revenues of $40 billion, GE Energy [ www.ge.com/energy ] is one of the worlda™s leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies. The businesses that comprise GE Energya"GE Power & Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gasa"work together to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels.