(Source: Business Wire)

In line with a major initiative by the European Union (EU) to reduce
emissions, GE Energy, the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A. and
the energy development company ContourGlobal today celebrated the
opening of a new cogeneration plant at Coca-Cola Hellenic's Ploiesti
bottling facility near Bucharest.
The Romania natural gas-fueled cogeneration plant represents the first
of a planned group of 15 combined heat and power (CHP) plants that will
be installed at Coca-Cola Hellenic's facilities in 12 European countries.
Cogeneration is inherently more energy efficient than using separate
power and heat generating sources, making it an effective anti-pollution
strategy. As a result, the EU in recent years has begun urging member
states to modernize their industrial and municipal cogeneration systems
to improve energy efficiency and curtail regional emissions.
"For such a large energy initiative, we needed to find a reliable power
generation equipment supplier that could support our project on behalf
of Coca Cola Hellenic under a very tight delivery schedule," said
ContourGlobal President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph C. Brandt.
Each of the bottling plants utilizing GE Energy's Jenbacher CHP engines
will be able to eliminate up to 40 percent of their annual carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions, which demonstrates the ongoing
commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of the bottling operations in
support of EU goals while also reducing the operational costs by
generating their own onsite power.
Under the first phase of the Coca-Cola Hellenic CHP initiative, GE
Energy is supplying ContourGlobal, the project developer, with 19
Jenbacher gas engines”representing a total output of 58 megawatts
(MWel). The first two of GE's Jenbacher cogeneration modules were
installed at Coca-Cola Hellenic's Romania bottling facility while the
other units will be installed at Coca-Cola facilities in six other
European countries: Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Greece, United Kingdom
(Northern Ireland) and Italy.
The new CHP plants will supply a highly efficient, reliable onsite
supply of electricity, as well as hot and chilled water, to Coca-Cola
Hellenic's bottling facilities.
"With the European Union emphasizing the role of energy efficiency in
its efforts to reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions, we are very
excited to showcase how our Jenbacher technology can help energy
developers and industrial operators like ContourGlobal and Coca-Cola
Hellenic meet with their energy and environmental goals," said Prady
Iyyanki, CEO of GE Energy's Jenbacher gas engine business.
Subsequent project phases call for additional CHP plants to be installed
at bottling facilities in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Serbia
as well as in the African nation of Nigeria.
The new Romania cogeneration plant is powered by two of GE's three-MW
J620 Jenbacher gas engines, providing the factory with a reliable source
of onsite power while helping support the EU's emissions reduction goals.
The initiative supports the European Commission's goal to adopt more
stringent environmental targets for member states to help Europe achieve
a 20 percent reduction in emissions by 2020.
GE Energy's Jenbacher gas engines will be delivered throughout 2009 and
2010, with commissioning scheduled as the plants are ready. The
equipment is being built at GE's gas engine manufacturing center in
Jenbach, Austria.
About GE Energy
GE Energy (www.ge.com/energy)
is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy
delivery technologies, with 2008 revenue of $29.3 billion. Based in
Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy works 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.
Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE's
corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new
technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental
challenges.
About GE
GE is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company
that is 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. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com.
GE is Imagination at Work.
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