Wind Farm Developers Race Against End of Tax Credit

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Friday, December 28, 2012

Wind Farm Developers Race Against End of Tax Credit

By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON — Forget about parties, resolutions or watching the ball drop. To Iberdrola Renewables, New Year’s Eve will mean checking on last-minute details like the data connections between 169 new wind turbines in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and California and its control center in Portland, Ore.

All over the country, developers are in a sprint to get new wind farms up and running before Tuesday, when the federal wind production tax credit will disappear like Cinderella’s ball gown. After that, the nation’s wind-farm building will be at a virtual standstill.

The stakes of meeting the deadline are enormous. Wind turbines that are connected to the grid and in commercial service before midnight on New Year’s Eve are entitled to a 2.2 cent tax credit for each kilowatt-hour they generate in their first 10 years, which comes out to about $1 million for a big turbine. As it stands now, those that enter service on Jan. 1 or later are out of luck.

The deadline is a bit like the April 15 one for filing income taxes, but “there are no extensions here,” said Paul Copleman, a spokesman for Iberdrola. To reduce the risk of missing it — a risk that increases when managing construction projects on mountaintops in New England in the winter — the company allowed more than a year for what are normally nine-month construction projects.

More than just individual projects are at risk; the wind industry says it expects installations to decline by 90 percent next year, with the loss of thousands of jobs. The erratic pattern of wind subsidies has spawned a boom-and-bust cycle, with supplier companies building factories that run at full production for months and then shut down when demand collapses.

The industry has long experience with drop-dead deadlines: since the tax credit began in the early 1990s, it has expired three times, said Elizabeth A. Salerno, director of industry data and analysis at the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group based in Washington. Each time, new installations fell from 73 percent to 93 percent, according to the association.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Energy efficient video game technology in Titan supercomputer

Oak Ridge National Laboratory News Release:

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Media Contact: Fred Strohl Communications and Media Relations 865.574.4165

Energy efficient video game technology in Titan supercomputer

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OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Dec. 27, 2012 — Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Titan Supercomputer - the world's most powerful supercomputer - is operating with improved energy efficiency due in part to the same upgraded technology in your child's video games.

"They do a lot of the same physics and on processors that are much more energy efficient than the ones we were using for scientific computation," said Jeff Nichols, ORNL's associate laboratory director for computing and computational sciences. "We took advantage of the gaming industry to give us 10 times more powerful processors and we only increased energy costs by half of what we were spending on specific systems today."

Titan is able to perform more than 17 quadrillion calculations per second.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov <http://science.energy.gov/>.

NREL News Release:

NREL Names New Executive

Friday, December 21, 2012

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today named Barbara Goodman as Associate Laboratory Director for Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Systems to replace Dale Gardner who is retiring at the end of the year.

Goodman will join NREL's executive leadership team and be responsible for the laboratory's transportation and fuels research and development programs, including hydrogen technologies, vehicle systems and biomass research. In addition, she will oversee the National Bioenergy Center and the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium.

"Barb is an exceptional asset for the Laboratory. Her leadership has been a major force behind NREL's ability to bring vehicle and fuel technologies to the marketplace," NREL Director Dan Arvizu said. "She has made sure that we are addressing and solving the right problems to reduce our country's dependence on imported petroleum."

Goodman has served as director of transportation technologies & systems research and development since 1996. In this position she was responsible for NREL's research in advanced vehicles and fuels including evaluating advanced battery technologies and power electronics; measuring emissions; reducing energy requirements associated with heating and cooling vehicles; evaluating effectiveness of advanced fuels in current and future engines; and evaluating air quality impacts.

In her 28-year career at NREL, Goodman has been a staff engineer and program manager for the ethanol, municipal solid waste, and alternative fuels programs. She also served as the operations manager for the Alternative Fuels Division. She oversaw the design of the Alternative Fuels User Facility, developed a new research effort in lactic acid, drafted a comprehensive plan on municipal solid waste, and established the Renewable Fuels and Lubricants Laboratory.

Goodman began her career teaching anthropology at the Community College of Denver and math at the Colorado School of Mines. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical and petroleum refining engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

She served as the co-editor for the Proceedings of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Symposia on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals; coauthored a book chapter on "Opportunities for Innovation in Biotechnology" published by U.S. Department of Commerce (NIST); and has published numerous scientific papers on a variety of biotechnology and fuels topics. She also serves on the editorial review board for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier Editorial Review Board; the International Chemistry Central Journal Review Board and the Detroit-based Auto Harvest Advisory Board. She is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Goodman is a committed community volunteer, serving as president of the Board of Directors for Community Shares of Colorado and as president of the Lakewood High School Foundation which she helped establish.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

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Boosting Galactan Sugars Could Boost Biofuel Production

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Press Release:

Collaboration at JBEI Identifies the First Enzyme Linked to Galactan Synthesis

DECEMBER 21, 2012

Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375  lcyarris@lbl.gov

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News Release

JBEI researchers generated Arabidopsis plants that overexpressed a GT92 enzyme, resulting in a a 50-percent increase in the amount of in the plant cell walls.

Galactan is a polymer of galactose, a six-carbon sugar that can be readily fermented by yeast into ethanol and is a target of interest for researchers in advanced biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass. Now an international collaboration led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has identified the first enzyme capable of substantially boosting the amount of galactan in plant cell walls.
Unlike ethanol, advanced biofuels synthesized from the sugars in plant cells walls could replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuels on a gallon-for-gallon basis and be dropped into today’s engines and infrastructures with no modifications required. Also, adanced biofuels have the potential to be carbon-neutral, meaning they could be burned without adding excess carbon to the atmosphere. Among the key challenges to making advanced biofuels cost competitive is finding ways to maximize the amount of plant cell wall sugars that can be fermented into fuels.
“We have confirmed the identity of the GT92 enzyme as the first enzyme shown to increase the biosynthesis of galactan,” says Henrik Scheller, vice president for JBEI’s Feedstocks Division and director of its Cell Wall Biosynthesis group. “This identification of the first β-1,4-galactan synthase provides an important new tool for the engineering of advanced bioenergy fuel crops.”
Scheller, who also holds an appointment with DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), is the corresponding author of a paper in the journal Plant Cell that describes this work. The paper is titled “Pectin Biosynthesis: GALS1 in Arabidopsis thalianais a β-1,4-Galactan β-1,4-galactosyltransferase.” Co-authors were JBEI’s April Liwanag, Berit Ebert, Yves Verhertbruggen, Emilie Rennie, Carsten Rautengarten, and Ai Oikawa, plus Mathias Andersen and Mads Clausen of the Technical University of Denmark.
Galactans are polysaccharide components of pectin, the sticky sugar substance that binds together the individual cells in plant cell walls and is used to make jellies and jams. The β-1,4-galactan component of pectin is especially abundant in the “tension wood” that forms in cell walls in response to mechanical stress from wind or snowfall.

JBEI researchers Henrik Scheller and April Liwanag led a study in which the first enzyme capable of increasing the biosynthesis of galactan was identified.

“Galactans are composed of hexoses, which in contrast to pentoses, are easily utilized by fermenting microorganisms for the production of biofuels and other compounds,” Scheller says. “It would be advantageous to develop plants with increased galactan content instead of hemicelluloses consisting largely of pentoses.”
GT92 is a family of glycosyltransferase proteins whose genes are found in all plants that have been genetically sequenced. An increased expression of GT92 genes has been observed in studies of tension wood. This observation combined with the knowledge that tension wood is rich in β-1,4-galactan led Scheller and his colleagues to investigate the function of GT92 proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering relative of mustard that serves as a model organism for plant studies. Arabidopsis has three members of GT92, which Scheller and his colleagues designated as GALACTAN SYNTHASE 1,2 and 3 (GALS1, GALS2 and GALS3). While loss-of-function mutants in all three genes were found to be galactan deficient, Scheller and his colleague isolated and tested GALS1.
“Overexpression of GALS1 resulted in plants with 50-percent higher β-1,4-galactan content and no adverse phenotype,” Scheller says. “We expect that the results for GALS2 and GALS3 overexpressors will be similar though we have yet to test them.”
Given that all three Arabidopsis GALS genes showed overlapping but not identical expression, Scheller and his colleagues are now combining mutations of GALS genes to better understand the role of β-1,4-galactan in plants. They’re also carrying out basic studies on these enzymes, including crystallization and structural analysis. In addition, they’re overexpressing the GALS proteins in different combinations to determine if even higher production of β-1,4-galactan results.
“As β-1,4-galactan is an ancient invention, the function of GT92 as a galactan synthase inArabidopsis should also be applicable to switchgrass, Miscanthus, poplar and other plants being considered as crops for advanced biofuels,” Scheller says. “We do not anticipate any difficulty in being able to overexpress GT92 genes in these plants.”
This research was funded by the DOE Office of Science, and by the Danish Strategic Research Council.

#  #  #

JBEI is one of three Bioenergy Research Centers established by the DOE’s Office of Science in 2007. It is a scientific partnership led by Berkeley Lab and includes the Sandia National Laboratories, the University of California campuses of Berkeley and Davis, the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. DOE’s Bioenergy Research Centers support multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research teams pursuing the fundamental scientific breakthroughs needed to make production of cellulosic biofuels, or biofuels from nonfood plant fiber, cost-effective on a national scale. For more, visit www.jbei.org
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world’s most  urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab’s scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. For more, visit www.lbl.gov.
DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website atscience.energy.gov/.
Additional Information
For more about Henrik Scheller, go here

TAGS: bioenergy, biofuels, energy, Joint Bioenergy Institute

GE Press Release:

GE Scientists Unveil Greener, Smarter Sleigh for Santa Claus

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December 21, 2012

• An array of new technologies added to improve the sleigh
• New 3-D printed parts allow for sleeker, more aerodynamic blade design to improve energy efficiency
• Use of high temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) in the frame to enable travel into and out of outer space
• New electric traction motor with MEMS switching technology to provide green power when reindeer need to rest
• New Industrial Internet technologies will ensure safer, more efficient travel

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. and NORTH POLE, December 21, 2012 – Just in time for Christmas, a team of GE scientists and engineers have introduced several new features to Santa’s sleigh. The updated sleigh incorporates a number of new technologies that will make Santa’s travels greener, faster and much more efficient. To learn more about the new, advanced features, -click here-.

“It has been three years since we introduced a new sleigh for Santa, and we figured it was time to provide a few upgrades to make his ride even better,” said Mark Little, Senior Vice President and Director of GE Global Research. “With the advancements GE scientists have made in 3-D printing, new materials like CMCs and the great opportunities to make machines smarter with the Industrial Internet, we have incorporated several new technologies to give Santa and his reindeer team a greener, smarter sleigh.”

When learning about the new upgrades, both Santa and the reindeer were excited.

Santa commented, “I am looking forward to flying into outer space. This will really save time by helping me get to destinations in different parts of the world much faster.”

And on behalf of all the reindeer, Rudolph commented, “The new feature that allows Santa to switch to electric power is welcomed by all the reindeer. Covering the entire globe can be pretty exhausting and having the opportunity to rest along our journey will help us remain in peak condition.”

New features of the sleigh include:

• A thin cooling solution that can improve jet engine aerodynamics and outfit Santa with a cooler, thinner laptop.
• Air Traffic Management Technology to help Santa and the reindeer steer clear of the planes en route on Christmas Eve.
• An Electric Traction Motor with MEMS switching technology to quickly and efficiently transfer power of Santa’s sleigh over to the electric motor to give the reindeer a break.
• 3-D printed sleigh blades for a more aerodynamic design to improve energy efficiency paired with a tough, flexible fabric to give Santa greater lift and maneuverability.
• An upgraded sleigh frame made from GE’s high temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) that will save energy and time by enabling flight into outer space and back.
• GE’s Durathon battery for reliably powering the accouterments in Santa’s sleigh. The battery can function under extreme temperature conditions.

Little concluded, “On behalf of all of GE’s scientists and engineers, Happy Holidays and best wishes for prosperous 2013 ahead.”

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NREL News Release:

Concentrated Solar Power with Thermal Energy Storage Can Help Utilities’ Bottom Line, Study Shows

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The storage capacity of concentrating solar power (CSP) can add significant value to a utility company's optimal mix of energy sources, a new report by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests. 

The report found that CSP with a six-hour storage capacity can lower peak net loads when the sun isn't shining, enough to add $35.80 per megawatt hour to the capacity and operational value of the utility, compared to photovoltaic (PV) solar power alone, and even higher extra value when compared to CSP without storage. The net load is the normal load minus variable renewables such as photovoltaic and wind.

 

The additional value comes because thermal storage allows CSP to displace more expensive gas-fired generation during peak loads, rather than displacing lower-priced coal; and because it can continue to flatten the peak load in the evenings when PV isn't contributing to the mix because the sun has set.

 

The report, "Simulating the Value of Concentrating Solar Power with Thermal Energy Storage in a Production Cost Model," by NREL's Paul Denholm and Marissa Hummon, noted that the $35.80 per megawatt extra value would come in a scenario in which there is relatively high penetration of renewables into the utility's mix, about 34 percent. If the penetration was lower, the extra value would be lessened.

 

The authors simulated grid operations in two balancing areas primarily in Colorado. NREL is also using the same methodology it developed for the Colorado scenario for the more complex California system controlled by the California Independent System Operator. A report on the value that CSP with thermal storage adds to the California system is expected early next year.

 

The Colorado study marks one of the first times that the operational and capacity value of CSP with thermal storage has been evaluated using a production cost model, a traditional utility planning tool.

 

The NREL authors employed Energy Exemplar's PLEXOS simulation model that allowed them to isolate the relative value of thermal energy storage (TES) with and without storage.

 

CSP with TES, with an ability to store thermal energy in, say, molten salt, can use its heat-energy to drive turbines at power plants over much longer stretches of the day.

 

"We've known for a long time that CSP with storage adds significant value, however, we are now able to quantify this value in the language utilities understand," said Mark Mehos, manager of NREL's Concentrating Solar Power program.

 

Compared to other renewable options, at high penetration levels CSP with TES can be dispatched to displace natural gas rather than coal. This is important because electricity produced from natural gas fired generators is typically more costly than that produced from coal.

 

"With CSP with thermal storage, you aren't diving as deep into the generation stack, displacing cheaper and cheaper fuel," Denholm said. "You're always displacing the highest-cost fuel."

 

Also, CSP with TES can lower peak net loads in the evenings when electricity use can still be high, but PV isn't available. So, it helps utilities offset the need to build new gas-fired generators in order to meet the electricity demand when the sun goes down.

 

"CSP with thermal storage can continually reduce that peak demand as the peak moves into the evening," Hummon said. "It continually maintains a high operational value and high capacity value." 

 

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

 

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GE Press Release:

Tri-State Boosts Its Renewables with 67 Megawatts of Wind Power

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December 20, 2012

Colorado Highlands Wind project now 100 percent operational

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association celebrated the completion of Colorado’s newest renewable energy facility today at the dedication of the Colorado Highlands Wind project in northeast Colorado. Tri-State was joined at the event by the project’s joint owners, Alliance Power, Inc. of Centennial, Colo., and GE Energy Financial Services of Stamford, Conn., as well as several state, county and local elected officials.

Tri-State has a 20-year power purchase agreement to buy the electricity from the 67-megawatt wind farm, which is located on a 5,200-acre site in northeast Colorado’s Logan County, within the service territory of Tri-State member co-op Highline Electric Association.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper voiced his support of the project and offered his congratulations. “Our state has long been a global leader in the area of wind, solar and other sources of renewable energy. This is because we have the fortune of attracting leaders such as Tri-State who work to increase the amount of renewable resources in our energy mix. We look forward to witnessing the positive impacts of the Colorado Highlands Wind project,” Gov. Hickenlooper said.

“The Colorado Highlands Wind project presented a great opportunity for Tri-State and our member electric co-ops,” said Tri-State senior vice president Brad Nebergall. “It increases the amount of renewable resources in our energy mix and further diversifies our overall generation portfolio – while also assisting our members to meet their obligations under state renewable portfolio standards.”

“We’re pleased that the project is located within Highline Electric’s service territory,” said Mark Farnsworth, manager of the local electric co-op. “We support Tri-State’s continued efforts in securing reliable, affordable and responsible power on our behalf and we also appreciate the economic development opportunities that the project provides in this part of the state.”

Jim Michael, managing member for Colorado Highlands Wind, oversaw the six-month construction process. He said, “We are pleased that this project was successfully completed on time and will be providing cost-effective renewable energy to Tri-State and its members for the next 20 years. This project demonstrates the ability of utilities, private enterprise and government agencies to work together to meet growing energy demands with economical renewable technologies that will bring lasting benefits to society.”

Colorado Highlands Wind is the third utility-scale renewable energy facility from which Tri-State receives all of the electrical output and renewable energy credits. In 2010 the wholesale power supplier began purchasing the electricity generated at the 51-megawatt Kit Carson Windpower Project in eastern Colorado as well as the 30-megawatt Cimarron Solar Facility in northeastern New Mexico.

About Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association
Based in the Denver suburb of Westminster, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is a not-for-profit wholesale power supplier to 44 electric cooperatives and public power districts serving approximately 1.5 million consumers throughout a 200,000 square-mile service territory across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming.

About GE Energy Financial Services
GE Energy Financial Services—GE’s energy investing business—works as a builder, not just a banker, to help meet the world’s power and fuel needs. We offer more than money—expertise—for essential, long-lived and capital-intensive power, oil and gas infrastructure—GE’s core business. Drawing on GE’s energy technical know-how, financial strength and risk management, we see value where others don’t and take on our customers’ toughest challenges with flexible equity and debt transaction structures. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, GE Energy Financial Services holds an approximately $20 billion global energy portfolio. More information: www.geenergyfinancialservices.com

GE Press Release:

GE’s LED Architectural Lighting is a Big Hit with Building Owners in Hungary

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December 19, 2012

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — December 19, 2012 — (NYSE:GE) — GE Lighting's contemporary Tetra^® Contour LED Lighting Systems have been specified for the new headquarters of wholesaler MENTAVILL and the Alkotas Point office building in Budapest, Hungary. Designed to resemble and replace exposed neon in a variety of signage, architectural and accent lighting applications, the Tetra Contour system provides an excellent balance between performance and aesthetics.

When leading building electrical wholesaler MENTAVILL decided to revamp the signage on its Szekesfehervar headquarters building, its team was looking for a lighting solution that would not only perform well but also reflect the company's corporate identity built on a rich heritage of expertise and innovation.

Similarly, the team behind the lighting refurbishment of the Alkotas Point building wanted to ensure the high-profile building―a key landmark for travelers arriving in Budapest from the Vienna and Lake Balagton highways—stood out from its neighboring buildings with new contemporary edge lighting.

GE’s Tetra Contour LED Lighting System was deemed an ideal solution in both cases, being suitable for a wide range of architectural lighting including border lighting, open-face channel letters, reverse-halo signs, accent lighting, art and light sculpture, as well as cove lighting.

The LED system provides advantages for both MENTAVILL and Alkotas Point as the system is up to 40 percent more energy efficient than a typical exposed neon system. Cool to the touch, it also provides a bright and uniform appearance.

Furthermore, both buildings now benefit from numerous advantages over traditional neon lights including improved energy efficiency, attractive aesthetics, light output, robustness, low-voltage operation, long life, unmatched cold-weather operation and ease of installation and maintenance.

For more information about these installations as well as energy-efficient LED lighting products from GE, visithttp://www.gelighting.com.

About GE LightingGE Lighting invents with the vigor of its founder Thomas Edison to develop energy-efficient solutions that change the way people light their world in commercial, industrial, municipal and residential settings. The business employs about 15,000 people in more than 100 countries, and sells products under the Reveal^® and Energy Smart^®consumer brands, and Evolve™, GTx™, Immersion™, Infusion™, Lumination™ and Tetra^® commercial brands, all trademarks of GE. General Electric (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter to build a world that works better. For more information, visit www.gelighting.com.

50 Years of LED Innovation
Oct. 9, 1962, GE scientist Dr. Nick Holonyak, Jr., invented the first practical visible-spectrum light-emitting diode (LED). In the 50 years since, GE has been on the forefront of LED innovation. The company has released inspired LED products for both residential and commercial settings, from the first ENERGY STAR^®-qualified A19-shaped LED bulb to LED street lighting that illuminates cityscapes the world over.

GE Press Release:

Plaza Indonesia Sparkles with 25,000 New GE Lights Saving $373,000 a Year

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December 19, 2012

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — December 19, 2012 — (NYSE:GE) — Plaza Indonesia, a well-known landmark in the heart of Jakarta city, has upgraded its lighting systems and replaced existing lights with the latest energy-efficient solutions from GE Lighting. The integrated development stands tall with its design-forward architecture and articulated spirit of energy conservation. Plaza Indonesia comprises four buildings namely: “The Plaza Office Tower”, “Plaza Indonesia Shopping Center”, “Grand Hyatt Hotel Jakarta” and “Keraton at the Plaza Private Residences and Luxury Collection Hotel”.

About 25,000 light points for both exterior and interior environments were replaced with new energy-efficient lights from GE including LED PAR30, LED PAR38, LED GU10 and T5 Starcoat lamps as well as Tetra^® LED miniMAX, PowerWhite, PowerMAX, Contour and Linear Wall Wash systems.

Mr. Hari Njotowidjojo, sales project leader of GE Lighting Indonesia, commented: “GE has a comprehensive range of lighting products to meet the individual requirements for specific environments. Upon discussing with the Plaza Indonesia team and truly understanding their business operations and lighting requirements, we proposed and successfully implemented a total solution that met both the client’s requirement for good quality lighting in respective environments as well as significant savings in terms of energy usage and ongoing maintenance costs.”

Mr. Herman Bunjamin, Property Director of Plaza Indonesia, added: “We chose GE Lighting because of its excellent quality of light. Not only that, the GE team offered us a convenient one-stop solution that took into consideration the unique and different requirements for the respective spaces within our integrated development. From the exteriors of this landmark to the interiors of the offices, shopping center, and luxurious rooms at our hotels and residences, the new GE lights have given an added sparkle to the development. We look forward to working with GE again on our future lighting needs.”

Appropriate Illumination for the Interiors of an Integrated Development:As a symbol of luxury in Jakarta, Plaza Indonesia still forwards the spirit of saving energy. To help achieve the goal of saving energy, GE Lighting provided energy-efficient solutions for all four buildings throughout Plaza Indonesia.

In The Plaza Office Tower, the existing lights were replaced with GE’s T5 Lighting System, which will generate energy savings of 30-40 percent compared to the regular conventional TL T8 systems. Ideal for office areas, the elegant, slim Starcoat T5 fluorescent lamps are environmentally sensitive with only 3 mg of mercury and offer a high energy efficiency of up to 104 lumens per watt. Besides, the extra-long rated life of 36,000 hours contributes to greatly reduced maintenance and replacement costs.

For the respective interior environments of the shopping center, residences and hotels, Plaza Indonesia previously used a combination of 50-watt halogen lamps as well as the 35- and 70-watt metal halide lamps. Now, Plaza Indonesia has replaced them with GE’s LED GU10, LED PAR30 and LED PAR38 lamps, which can achieve very significant energy savings.

The LED GU10 is GE’s LED small spot lamp and has a long rated life of 25,000 hours at 70-percent lumen maintenance. It offers substantial opportunities to reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs especially for hotel, restaurant and commercial lighting applications. The LED PAR30 and LED PAR38 lamps both have a long rated life of 25,000 hours, and can reduce energy consumption, which are very suitable for long hours lighting applications in hotel, mall and supermarket areas.

Lighting the Exterior of a LandmarkGE’s new signage lights have added a new brilliance to the exteriors of Plaza Indonesia, in particular for “The Plaza” Office Tower and “Keraton at the Plaza Private Residences and Luxury Collection Hotel”. The use of GE’s Tetra LED PowerWhite outdoor signage and Tetra LED Contour systems is a more energy-efficient solution compared to the previous T8 and cold cathode lights used.

The Tetra PowerWhite (white for The Plaza) and PowerMAX (warm white for Keraton) systems provide for miniature channel letter lighting for logo letters and are also ideal for cove lighting, accent or border lighting for commercial buildings. The OptiLens maximizes the area of light coverage to produce outstanding uniformity. It comes with easy mounting and an over-molded design which protects the components from moisture. Users have a choice of a full range of colors including white, warm white, red, blue and green.

Reaping Returns and Reducing Environmental ImpactWith GE Lighting’s new lighting solution, Plaza Indonesia will enjoy estimated savings of $373,000 per year on energy and maintenance costs based on its usage and electricity rate. This translates to a lighting project payback period of just one year. From an environmental protection perspective, the energy savings is equivalent to eliminating 5,744,200 lbs. of carbon dioxide car emissions per year―equivalent to planting 712 acres of trees.

For more information about this installation and the GE Lighting products used, please visit www.gelighting.com.

About GE LightingGE Lighting invents with the vigor of its founder Thomas Edison to develop energy-efficient solutions that change the way people light their world in commercial, industrial, municipal and residential settings. The business employs about 15,000 people in more than 100 countries, and sells products under the Reveal^® and Energy Smart^®consumer brands, and Evolve™, GTx™, Immersion™, Infusion™, Lumination™ and Tetra^® commercial brands, all trademarks of GE. General Electric (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter to build a world that works better. For more information, visit www.gelighting.com.

50 Years of LED Innovation
Oct. 9, 1962, GE scientist Dr. Nick Holonyak, Jr., invented the first practical visible-spectrum light-emitting diode (LED). In the 50 years since, GE has been on the forefront of LED innovation. The company has released inspired LED products for both residential and commercial settings, from the first ENERGY STAR^®-qualified A19-shaped LED bulb to LED street lighting that illuminates cityscapes the world over.