RIYADH — General Electric (GE) reported on Monday their progress following a September 2012 investment of one billion US dollars in Saudi Arabia's innovation, healthcare and energy sectors for the Kingdom's 2024 vision, which includes plans to diversify the Kingdom's economy. In a visit to Dammam, Karl Fassenden, President and CEO of GE Power and Water Worldwide said in a telephone interview that GE is very excited about their success in working towards the goals of their billion-dollar investment. “We've made a lot of progress, in particular relative to our investment in our GEMTEC facility,” he said, commenting on General Electric's Manufacturing Technology Center in Dammam, reportedly the largest of its kind outside the United States. “We continue to develop our second phase of this facility and we're on track and actually ahead in our hiring of our local Saudi workforce here in our Dammam based Manufacturing Technology Facility,” he added This facility, Fassenden said, has supported over 50 customers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe and focuses on developing advanced repair, service and support for power generation technologies in the Kingdom. “We are working very closely with the Saudi government and with our partners and customers here to continue to bring our technology to Saudi Arabia for cleaner and more efficient development.” GE has reportedly been working closely with Aramco and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) on innovations in alternate fuel and efficient generation of power with the latest equipment. “As we work with our partners at SEC and Aramco, we bring the power of GE's capacity and capabilities around the world to see how we can develop local solutions and offerings that make sense for the Kingdom,” Fassenden added. One of the latest innovations was GE's FlexEfficiency 60 Portfolio, advanced gas turbines implemented at SEC's Power Plant 12 in Riyadh. Fassenden said FlexEfficiency 60 technology would add 2,000 megawatts of power, reportedly supporting SEC's commercial operations in 2015. GE is also developing sustainable energy sources in the Kingdom, with capabilities in renewable energy in the form of solar and wind power. GE also inaugurated their Dhahran Techno Valley (DTV) Innovation Center, focused on innovative technologies in clean energy, in January of this year. “The purpose of the DTV Innovation Center is to really focus on driving cleaner and more efficient energy solutions and, of course, sustainable and affordable healthcare solutions.” Fassenden reported that studies GE has made around energy efficiency indicate that energy savings of eight percent over the next decade could save up to SR50 billion, the equivalent, he said, of fueling ten gigawatts of power daily. In terms of healthcare, GE has reportedly developed training programs for Saudis in the health industry ranging from specialized medical training to leadership and management training. “Our healthcare projects are also on track and we're continuing to work closely with the Ministry of Health and our partners to further strengthen our partnerships,” Fassenden reported. To date, GE has trained over 3,000 medical professionals in the aforementioned fields. These training programs, Fassenden said, are prevalent throughout GE's portfolio of operations in the Kingdom. “GE has been successful in really being a great role model for Saudization and local decision making and local workforce development.” “Our Saudization rate is greater than 65 percent today and by the end of the year we will be over 70 percent.” GE has been active in the Kingdom for over 80 years, with numerous facilities in the Kingdom representing the largest GE workforce in the Middle East. Currently, Fassenden reported, more than 500 GE turbines generate over 50 percent of the Kingdom's electricity, and their technologies in the water industry produce 150 million liters of clean water daily.
