"China has experienced unbelievable growth over the past decade, creating a massive need for energy to power businesses and consumer lifestyles–so the time is right for Yangzhou to become a smart city," said Mark Norbom, president and CEO of GE’s China business. "As Chinese engineers design new cities and upgrade existing infrastructure, we’re going to show them how GE technology can help build a world-class model of reliability and efficiency at just about every point in the transmission, distribution and consumption processes. Yangzhou’s initiative will be a showcase to demonstrate how China can get the power it needs and reduce energy’s environmental impact at the same time."
The technology engagement will include a huge array of GE products that affect energy in homes, on power lines and in a utility’s network control center.
"We value GE’s end-to-end infrastructure vision and the fact that they are delivering technologies already proven for reliability and savings," said Mr. Zhengyi Xie, the city mayor of Yangzhou. "We hope GE’s advanced smart grid technology will enhance the local infrastructure and the whole relevant industry as well."
Home energy technologies in the demonstration include advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meters–with dynamic pricing and WiMAX communications interfaces–that serve as the hub of home energy savings. Savings tools operated through the meter include home energy management systems, programmable thermostats, smart appliances that perform activities based on energy availability and cost and demand-response systems that reduce home energy usage during times of peak energy demand.
Grid infrastructure and control technologies in the demonstration include automated outage identification and restoration software, field-force automation and deployment systems and grid-wide network management software.
The initiative may also include installation and demonstration of home-based charging stations for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles PHEVs). Teamed with dynamic pricing that encourages charging overnight, PHEVs can enable electric cars to become more commonplace–reducing China’s need for oil while greatly lowering the carbon footprint of each mile driven.
Through industry collaborations, GE will deliver one of the broadest portfolio offerings of carbon-smart technologies in the industry to modernize electrical systems from the power plant to the consumer. From smarter appliances and technologies for plug-in hybrid vehicles, to providing renewable technologies and smart meters, GE’s innovation and leadership is delivering integrated, large-scale smart grid deployments, leveraging technology synergies and delivering results.
GE is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company that’s built to meet essential world needs. From energy, water, transportation and health to access to money and information, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.
GE serves the energy sector by developing and deploying technology that helps make efficient use of natural resources. With 60,000 global employees and 2008 revenues of $38.6 billion, GE Energy www.ge.com/energy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies. The businesses that comprise GE Energy–GE Power & Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gas–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 power, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels.
