New GE Plant Will Introduce Batteries for Hybrid Locomotives

General Electric plans to build a $100 million factory to manufacture high-tech batteries for heavy equipment — including the batteries that will power the company’s forthcoming hybrid railroad locomotive. While the facility would initially focus on the production of large batteries for use in rail, marine, telecommunications, and utility backup systems, it may eventually be used to produce smaller scale batteries, including for hybrid or plug-in electric cars. The batteries will use sodium-metal halide technology, which GE officials say will provide large amounts of energy over long periods of time. “Battery technology is a core part of the energy future globally,” said Jeff Immelt, chief executive of GE. Company officials hope the plant will open by 2011 in upstate New York. GE would become the first company to produce batteries for a hybrid locomotive. Officials say those batteries will be able to capture energy dissipated during the braking of locomotives — a technology they say will reduce fuel consumption by 15 percent and cut emissions by 50 percent compared to the typical freight locomotive.