SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - GE Power Generation will spend $39 million and hire 500 workers as it expands its renewable energy divisions, Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced this week.
The deal involves the renovation of 200,000 square feet of existing space on the GE Energy campus. The company will complete the project in 18 months. The Empire State Development Corp. will reimburse the company $5 million for renovation costs through a grant. Additional tax breaks and incentives top $2 million.
"This is an excellent example of the global market driving local growth," said Steve Bolze, GE Energy's president of power generation. "We are seeing a dramatic, global increase for cleaner and more efficient ways of producing energy. By expanding our existing resources we are investing now to ensure we continue to deliver technology solutions that will meet our customers' growing requirements in the years ahead."
The news comes the day before GE Energy Financial Services, also a unit of parent General Electric Co., announced it would invest in a 120-megawatt wind farm in Texas. Both moves will boost GE’s renewable energy portfolio.
Construction of the wind farm, which will use 80 1.5 megawatt wind turbines, is scheduled for completion in April of 2008. The deal brings GE Energy Financial Services investments to 51 wind farms. The company plans to double its investments in renewable energy by 2010.
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