GE signs Exelon in its largest power-plant software deal
General Electric Co (GE.N) has signed up U.S. energy utility Exelon Corp (EXC.N) to use its full software set to analyze and manage power plants in 48 states, the largest GE deployment in the power sector so far, the companies said on Tuesday.
The Exelon deal, aimed at wringing greater efficiency from the business of generating electricity, marks another advance in GE’s effort to lift annual digital technology revenue to $14 billion in 2020 from $5 billion in 2015, across its many industrial products.
It also is one of the three largest sales of GE’s Predix industrial operating system so far. Exelon has nuclear, wind and fossil fuel-powered plants. The companies did not disclose the value of Exelon’s five-year contract with GE.
In initial uses, GE’s technology has increased power plant efficiency by 3 percent and reliability by 5 percent, while cutting operating and maintenance costs 25 percent, said Steve Bolze, chief executive of GE Power.
Exelon’s deployment is nearly six times larger than the previous largest GE deal, signed last month with the New York Power Authority and covering 16 power plants in New York state that generate about 5,600 megawatts.
