The FINANCIAL -- To help meet the region’s power demands, Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (MDU) will install a GE (NYSE: GE) 7E 3-series gas turbine, formerly known as 7EA, adjacent to Montana-Dakota’s coal-fired Heskett Generating Station near Mandan, N.D. Operating on pipeline natural gas, the 7E 3-series will generate 88 megawatts of power when it begins commercial service in 2014.

Since introducing the 7E 3-series gas turbine more than 40 years ago, GE has continued to update and improve the technology, positioning it to meet the changing needs of today’s energy industry. The 7E 3-series has demonstrated durability and highly reliable starting capability in nearly 1,200 operating units with more than 29 million hours of service across a wide range of applications.

“We needed to add a reliable, proven gas turbine to our fleet, to ensure that we can meet our growing capacity needs,” said Alan Welte, generation director for Montana-Dakota Utilities. “We are confident in GE technology and were looking for a gas turbine that is highly reliable and cost-effective.”

As GE reported, the 7E 3-series gas turbine features low emissions. Operating with GE’s Dry Low NOx combustion technology, the 7E 3-series can achieve industry-leading emissions, enabling users to meet today’s increasingly stringent air quality standards.

“Due to the simplicity of its durable architecture, the 7E 3-series gas turbine offers industry-leading starting reliability and can come to full speed in less than 10 minutes,” said Paul Browning, president and CEO Thermal Products, GE Power & Water. “This allows the 7E 3-series to excel in peaking power applications, also making it an excellent fit for the quick addition of supplemental power to compensate for the intermittency of renewable energy.“

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