GE unit to build advanced storage battery plant

GE Transportation, a unit of the General Electric Co., announced plans to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant for advanced storage batteries. The new battery business will be a part of GE Transportation and will serve customers in the rail, marine, mining, telecommunications and utility sectors.

As a producer of diesel-electric locomotives, GE has a rich history of delivering breakthrough technologies that are today commonplace in the rail industry.

GE has invested more than $150 million to develop advanced battery technologies,
including a high energy-density sodium-based chemistry battery that will provide energy storage for a variety of applications, which include GE Transportation’s ecomaginationSM certified Evolution Hybrid Locomotive, mining truck drive system and tugboat electrification.

The new $100 million production facility, scheduled to be fully operational by mid-2011, will be located in upstate New York in the Capital Region and will create 350 new manufacturing jobs.