GE Oil & Gas Secures Gas-Storage Facilities Contract from Italy's Stogit

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--GE Oil & Gas (Florence, Italy), the energy technology and equipment division of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut), has secured a contract from Stoccaggi Gas Italia SpA (Stogit SpA) (Crema, Italy) to enhance two gas-storage facilities. The gas-storage units are located at Sabbioncello and Settala in northern Italy. The upgrade of the first unit is expected to be completed by May 2011. GE Oil & Gas officials have confirmed that existing operations will not be affected by the proposed augmentation program.

As part of the contract, GE Oil & Gas will deliver dry low-NOX (DLN) emission units, GE10-2 gas turbines, and allied equipment. The augmented storage facilities will meet Italy's new carbon-emission targets. Stogit has announced that the upgrades will utilize available infrastructure and layouts. The scope of the agreement will also include supply of the advanced Mark Vle 'plug and play' control units, dry gas seals, modification of buildings, training on DLN units and GE10-2 turbines, and commissioning of field services. The enhanced storage facilities are expected to obtain NOX emission levels of less than 15 parts per million. This will ensure that the operations are in line with the emission targets set for the Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy regions of the country. Project officials have indicated that power generation output in each location will be increased by 1 megawatt (MW).

In July, Snam Rete Gas (Milan, Italy) acquired a 100% stake in Stogit from Eni SpA (NYSE:E) (Milan). Earlier, media reports stated that Italy's regulatory authority for electricity and gas had conducted a study to investigate Eni 's gas-storage augmentation program. The study revealed that the efforts were not sufficient to ensure energy security. The authorities reportedly urged Eni to offload portions of the gas-storage capacity to third parties to boost competition and guarantee energy independence.

Stogit operates eight gas storage facilities in Italy. The facilities are located in Brubherio, Sabbioncello, Ripalta, Cortemaggiore, Sergnano, Settala, Minerbio and Fiume Treste. In December last year, Stogit selected GE Oil & Gas to perform the upgrade of the Fiume Treste storage facility with GE10 -2 steam turbines. With the completion of the Settala and Sabbioncello upgrades, there will be five operating GE10-2 steam turbines in Stogit facilities. GE Oil & Gas' steam turbines are expected to boost efficiency to comply with emission targets and improve operational efficiencies.

Recently, GE Oil & Gas secured a contract to supply its Integrated Compressor Line technology to the Baumgarten compressor facility operated by OMV Gas GmbH (Vienna, Austria), part of OMV AG (NASDAQ:OMVKY) (Vienna, Austria). The scope of the contract includes supply, installation and commissioning of three ICL units with a capacity of 6 MW each. The units will be tested at GE Oil & Gas' facility in Le Creusot, France. The installation is expected to be completed by mid-2011. In July, OMV Gas selected GE Oil & Gas to install ICL technology at the Neurstift station.

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