GE Hydro Repowering Two Power Plants in Sweden with New, Environmentally Friendly Turbine Runners.

Business Editors

OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 2002

GE Hydro, a business unit of GE Power Systems, has been awarded contracts by Vattenfall Vattenkraft AB, Sweden's largest electric utility, for the repowering of two hydro turbines with environmentally friendly runners.

The projects, at the company's Naverede and Grundfors power plants in Indalsalven and Ume alv, respectively, are valued at a total of more than US $4.25 million.

Vattenfall is engaged in a program to progressively renovate many of its hydro power stations originally commissioned in the 1950s and '60s to keep them in peak operating condition. The 35-megawatt Naverede and 54-megawatt Grundfors plants are among those targeted for renewal in 2002.

For each of these two run-of-river plants, GE will build and install a Kaplan turbine runner with a GE-developed design that uses water instead of oil inside the runner hub to reduce the risk of oil spillage into the environment during operation or maintenance. In a major departure from oil-filled runners in use since the 1920s, GE Hydro has successfully implemented reduced-oil or oil-free Kaplan turbine designs that include oil-free runners, hubs and greaseless bushings.

For the Naverede Power Plant, GE Hydro will supply a 35-megawatt turbine runner with a 6.95-meter diameter and 12.5-meter head. The turbine runner for the Grundfors plant will have a 54-megawatt capacity with a runner diameter of 4.87 meters and a head of 35.2 meters. The work scope for both projects also includes overhaul of the turbines with self-lubricated bushings and provision of a new high-pressure regulating system.

"This project demonstrates GE Hydro's continued commitment to develop industry-leading technology and innovative designs to protect our environment and bring value to our customers. We are pleased to be selected by Vattenfall and look forward to working with them to upgrade these two power stations," said Per Simonsson, GE Hydro's regional sales director for Europe.

"Vattenfall awarded this order to GE in stiff competition with the largest international hydro turbine suppliers," said Ulf Wollstrom, Vattenfall's technical director. "Our key evaluation factors were technical design and runner production, turbine efficiency, reliability and price. Reliability of the runners is particularly important to us and in this regard, GE offered a product that satisfied all of our requirements."

The runners for the two projects will be built at GE Hydro facilities in Sorumsand, Norway. Shipping is scheduled for the end of August 2003, with commissioning by GE planned for the end of October 2003. Both plants are expected to resume commercial operation in November 2003.

Vattenfall Vattenkraft AB, a Swedish government-owned company and highly valued GE Hydro customer, serves 1.5 million customers in Sweden's deregulated market through the production, distribution and sales of electricity and district heating. The company's electric generation plants include large, medium and small-sized hydro power stations, together with three nuclear power plants.

GE Hydro is a world leader in the supply of hydro turbines, generators, and related electro technical equipment for the hydropower production industry. Capabilities include complete water-to-wire solutions for new hydroelectric plants and refurbishment and service for existing plants.

About GE Power Systems

GE Power Systems (www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation equipment, energy services and management systems, with 2001 revenues exceeding $20 billion. The business has the largest installed base of power generation equipment in the global energy industry. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Power Systems provides equipment, services and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, distributed power and energy rental industries.