On January 31, General Electric signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tuscan Region and the Italian government that will bring 800 million dollars into Tuscany.
The new Galileo Project is a significant investment in research and development to take place on Tuscan soil, establishing a centre of global excellence in Tuscany for the oil and gas sector that will involve 500 highly qualified people coming from GE, universities, research labs and SMEs. The project aims to increase Italian production by 50 percent and company revenue by 1.7 billion dollars in five years.
‘GE has been in Italy for nearly 100 years and today’s milestone underlines our strong on-going commitment to investing and growing our business here,’ said Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO. GE Oil & Gas – Nuovo Pignone has around 5,400 employees in 5 plants in Tuscany, totalling some 12,400 employees in Italy. It generates 4.6 percent of Tuscany’s GDP.
The investment comes on the heels of the successful introduction to the market of what has been dubbed the Tuscan Turbine, the NovaLT16. The new and highly efficient turbine, used primarily for power generation, was entirely developed in Tuscany in the record time of just 30 months from concept to market.
Complementing GE’s other large research facilities in the US (primarily Greenville, SC), the new Tuscan research centre will focus on building 300 gas turbines and 400 centrifugal compressors from 2019 onwards. The new line of highly technological machines raises the standards of efficient and reliable oil and gas applications. Designed and produced in Tuscany, they will be exported around the world.
This article was updated on February 1, 2016
