Pratt & Whitney forms new industrial gas turbine unit
By April C. Murelio, Managing Editor, Power Online
Pratt & Whitney sees its new industrial gas turbine unit and subsidiary—P2 Energy—as a way to "connect the dots," offering customers a full line of industrial power systems ranging from 250 kW to 60 MW and the support services needed to keep them running.
Serving as the primary marketing and sales channel for Pratt & Whitney Power Systems' (PWPS) FT8 industrial gas turbines, P2 Energy also plans to market and sell ST5, ST6, ST18, ST30 and ST40 product lines.
"This is a big change for us," said Ellen Smith, senior vice president of commercial business, during a press conference at this year's Power-Gen International in Orlando. "It's like connecting the dots. P2 Energy will be our primary vehicle for getting products to market as well as looking for niche markets and developing new lines."
According to Smith, who spent about 20 years at GE Power Systems before joining the company a year ago to head up this integration effort, Pratt & Whitney identified a hole in its field services unit as it closely examined those areas now consolidated under P2 Energy.
Because of this, she said, Pratt & Whitney joined with Atlanta-based Power Industry Consultants to package field services and to provide turnkey solutions for the energy industry. Besides marketing and sales and field services, P2 Energy (Marietta, GA) also plans to handle installation, plant operation and equipment and facility financing for all PWPS products.
One of those products includes an enhanced FT8 line of gas turbines, which PWPS expects to deliver a 10% increase in power output over the current FT8 model. PWPS plans to offer the units in early 2002, with the technology enhancement also serving as an upgrade to older FT8 units.
Other projects in the hopper include a contract with DTE Energy Technologies for 100, ST5 industrial gas turbines for DTE Energy/Now's ENT4000 mini-turbine genset. The engines will be delivered over a 12-month period, starting in early 2002. And, PG&E Corporation's National Energy Group recently bought PWPS environmental upgrade kits (E-Kits) for five, GG4 industrial gas turbines to meet peak demand in 2001.
Pratt & Whitney appointed William E. Thompson, a 30-year veteran of the power engineering and construction industry, to serve as P2 Energy's president and CEO. He formerly served as a senior partner and director of global marketing and sales for Black & Veatch of Kansas City.
"P2 Energy is Pratt & Whitney's one-stop shopping solution," Thompson said. "We will focus on power systems designed for peaking operations, intermediate and full, base load. We will cover it all."
For more information about P2 Energy, call 866-723-6374 or visit www.P2energy.com.
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