GE opens Technology Centre

The spirit of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité was alive and well at the launch of GE Energy’s new Technology Centre in Belfort, France, on Tuesday 23 June.

The $25m (£15m) facility will house 400 engineers and act as GE’s European headquarters, with two manufacturing centres assembling gas turbines with a capacity ranging from 40 - 440MW, and a technology facility. The latter will benefit from the French government’s R&D tax credit, which returns 30-60 per cent of a company’s investment.

Jean-Benoit Albertine, the prefect of Belfort Territory, said: ‘The site promotes competitiveness à la Française, and this research tax credit has renewed US interest in French activities.’

Seventy researchers at the facility will look into continuing improvements to gas turbine technologies, including new combustion systems for burning a range of fuels, improvements to existing product yields, emission and noise reduction. These will help address the challenge of the recent economic downturn, which has drastically affected energy demand. In Spain, overall electricity demand during the last quarter was down 18 per cent over the same quarter last year, and in Germany demand was down 12 per cent.