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By Alwyn Scott
(Reuters) – General Electric Co said on Friday that the oxidation of turbine blades that forced Exelon Corp to idle four power plants in Texas is also affecting another model.
GE said that oxidation, which weakens metal turbine blades, could also not affect more than 75 of its 9FB turbines, in addition to the 51 HA-Class turbines that it had warned earlier might have the problem.
GE stated that 9FB "comprises less than 1% of the company's global gas turbine fleet" of 7,500 turbines installed worldwide. GE said it sold its first 9FB in 2003.
GE shares declined 1.5% to $ 12.28.
The 9FB is part of a previous generation of turbines, known as the F-Class, in which GE holds a larger market share than its competitors Siemens AG and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems.
For a graph showing GE's gas turbine market share and other details, click on: http://tmsnrt.rs/2Fge6ra
The company, based in Boston and aged 126, declined to say if 9FB turbines had been shut down due to oxidation of the blades.
Industry experts and investors tried Friday to assess the risk for GE Power Business, which suffered a sharp decline in sales and profits.
On Wednesday, GE Power General Manager Russell Stokes spoke about it in an article on LinkedIn's website.
GE said Thursday that, while four HA class units in Texas had been closed, another 10 HA units in the United States were in operation. The GE website shows five aeronautical units in service in the United States. GE stated that the other five had not yet started trading.
(Report by Alwyn Scott in New York and Ankit Ajmera in Bangalore, edited by Anil D & Silva and Marguerita Choy)
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