Taking charge: From batteries to flexible power, GE technology bulks up the backbone of the grid

GE has built up an arsenal of solutions to tackle energy problems lately. The company’s flexible power plants like FlexEfficiency 50 or jet-fired aeroderivative systems can ramp up and replace lost electricity in just minutes. GE engineers and researches have also developed efficient solar technologies like thin film panels, advanced batteries, smart grid and other high-tech tools that smooth the ebb and flow of electricity and make it reliable. GE has been spending heavily and hiring new workers to build these systems. The company invested $500 million in the R&D effort that led to the FlexEfficiency plant. The first one will come online in France in 2015 and generate enough electricity for 600,000 households. The company is also building a new thin film factory in Colorado that will create 355 jobs at the plant and another 100 at Little’s GE Global Research in New York. GE has also invested more than $160 million to develop advanced battery technologies such as high-energy density batteries.