North American Windpower: GE Expands N.Y. Energy-Storage Battery Plant

by NAW Staff on Wednesday 11 July 2012

GE has announced a $70 million investment to expand the company's advanced energy-storage battery factory in Schenectady, N.Y., effectively doubling production and adding 100 new jobs, the company says. The company says the new Durathon battery products are half the size of conventional lead acid batteries but last 10 times longer and are the result of its $100 million initial investment in battery technology.

According to GE, the technology will provide reliable and cost-effective energy storage options for a broad range of industries, including wind power.

"Advanced energy storage has an increasingly important role to play with renewable technologies like wind and solar in New York," notes Carol E. Murphy, executive director of the Alliance For Clean Energy New York. "The advantage of being able to store wind power and sell it into the competitive energy markets, when it is needed most and prices are highest, is huge. Right now, the only renewable technology in New York that is able to do this is pump-storage hydropower. Wind developers and energy-storage companies should take note of GE's $70 million investment expansion into the battery storage field."

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