GE signs clean energy agreements in China

General Electric Co Ltd signed agreements with two Chinese companies on Tuesday in natural gas and coal sectors, part of an effort to help China develop clean energy.

The United States-based GE and Chinese private company ENN Energy Holdings Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership.

They will concentrate on areas including data center energy solutions and coal-to-gas projects to jointly develop the gas-based distributed power market.

"As the world's largest power generation market, up to 30 percent of the global new energy supply will happen in China in the next 10 to 15 years," said Steve Bolze, president of GE Power and Water.

GE has estimated that power generated by natural gas will reach the same level as oil and coal by 2030 globally. One-quarter of the world's natural gas power generation increase will come from China, said Bolze.

Xu Xiaodong, director of the distributed energy professional committee at the China City Gas Association, said there are still obstacles in the management and pricing areas when it comes to the development of the distributed natural gas industry. An open market will be greatly helpful, Xu said.

Separately, GE and the China Coal Resources Group signed a letter of intent to cooperate on a large-scale, efficient clean coal utilization project.

GE will provide its third-generation Radiant Syngas Cooler gasification technology and related services to China Coal, which can raise the latter's energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

Xu Yaowu, deputy general manager of China Coal, said the cooperation with GE is a relatively short-term technology transfer, but the company hopes that it can be expanded.

"It will bring mutual benefits if the cooperation involves investment from GE in the future," he said.