http://www.canada.com/montreal/specials/business/story.html?id=1FD653FB-2CCF -4B4A-8325-60808A98A96D High-tech turbines for Suroît could go to another customer Delay caused by public hearings might mean loss of 'good deal' from GE NICOLAS VAN PRAET The Gazette, Wednesday, February 25, 2004 One month after General Electric Energy trumpeted Hydro-Québec as the launch customer for its new 7H gas turbine, the U.S.-based power generation equipment company is shopping the new technology to other clients. "The 7H is available to other customers independent of what might happen at Hydro-Québec," Dennis Murphy, manager of global marketing communications for GE Energy, said yesterday. The utility could be forced to cancel plans for its Suroît natural gas-fired Suroît plant in Beauharnois, southwest of Montreal. The Quebec government first approved the project but backtracked after significant public outcry. The plant was to be the first place in the world where GE's new 7H system would be commercially used. Asked if GE expects to have another launch customer than Hydro-Québec for its new technology, Murphy said: "There is not one in the immediate future." Murphy suggested GE would take any customer interested in its technology. The company will not wait out the public hearings on the Suroît project and a final recommendation by Quebec's energy board. That's expected by the end of June. GE's partnership with another launch customer would almost certainly mean Hydro-Québec would pay more to develop Suroît than the $550 million currently projected. The utility received "a good deal" in exchange for tolerating the risk of GE's new technology, a Hydro official said. Each of the two turbines ordered cost an estimated $30 million to $40 million U.S. For GE, losing Suroît won't hurt, even if little growth is expected over the next few years for turbine sales, said Tony Boase, who follows the company for A.G. Edwards & Sons in Chicago. "In the grand scheme of the power business for GE, it's not that big a deal." Barely a month ago, GE was buoyant about Suroît, perhaps based on guarantees from Hydro that the 836-megawatt plant was a done deal. "Canada's and Quebec's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol was one of the determining factors in Hydro-Québec's selection of H technology for the new plant," GE said at the time. "For every unit of electricity produced, the H System will use less fuel and produce fewer greenhouse-gas emissions compared to other large gas turbine combined-cycle systems." Hydro-Québec said Friday it expects to import power this year for the first time. It said water reserves were shrinking, in part because of lower rainfall. The utility generates about 95 per cent of its power through hydroelectric dams. nvanpraet@thegazette.canwest.com
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