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14 www.coalage.com May 2017 news continued customers, which, in some cases, have been in place for decades. The company has projected a production target of more than 14 million tons in 2017. New GE Innovation Center Will Showcase Latest Technologies of Coal-fired Steam Power Plants GE Power announced plans to convert its 242-megawatt (MW ) coal-fired Birchwood Power facility in King George, Virginia, into a Steam Plant Services Innovation Center. The center, which pro- vides sufficient electricity to power more than 240,000 homes, is to become a showcase for how the latest GE technologies can increase the efficiency and flexibility of coal-fired steam power plants, while also reducing emissions, the company said. The new showcase will combine GE's full suite of Digital Pow- er Plant for Steam software solutions and align with GE's global Powering Efficiency Center of Excellent (COE) initiative. The COE provides customers with total plant solutions to upgrade their ex- isting generation equipment. "Transitioning the Birchwood power facility into a GE Steam Plant Services Innovation Center aligns with the Powering Effi- ciency COE initiative and builds on GE's commitment to modern- izing the steam power industry," said Paul McElhinney, president and chief executive officer of GE's Power Services. "We are invest- ing in this innovation center to not only better the plant itself but to illustrate to the world what gains are possible in this sector when you combine digital and hardware solutions with technical know-how." Birchwood Power facility is jointly owned by GE Power Ser- vices and J-Power USA Development Co. Ltd. On May 1, GE's Power Services assumed the Operations and Maintenance (O&M;) services contract at the plant. As part of its suite of services, GE is installing its advanced digital solutions that will equip plant O&M; technicians at this site with new opportunities for process and productivity improvements by leveraging machine and sensor data, analytics and boiler optimization technologies across the entire plant. By making improvements from the fuel supply, with- in the boiler, and across the balance of plant, there is potential to incrementally impact efficiency, flexibility and availability, while reducing emissions, outage and maintenance costs. Installation is planned for August. "We are seeing rapid adoption of lower carbon electricity gen- eration the world over. However, the evolution to a lower emis- sion energy future is still likely to take a generation or more," said Ganesh Bell, chief digital officer, GE Power. "In the interim, the Innovation Center at Birchwood will enable us to demonstrate how to make coal a dramatically more efficient, flexible and lower emission fuel source through the use of advanced engineering, software and analytics." GE's Powering Efficiency COE initiative aims to help custom- ers with coal-fired power plants optimize their operations, im- prove plant efficiency and reduce emissions with the combina- tion of advanced hardware and digital offerings. The COE aligns with GE's recent Ecomagination study that found CO 2 emissions from the world's steam fleet can be reduced by 11% when exist- ing hardware and software solutions are fully applied. This re- duction in CO 2 is equivalent to removing 250 million U.S. cars from the road. Union Pacific Plans to Invest $41 Million in its Wyoming Rail Infrastructure Union Pacific said it is boosting safety and efficiency with a $41 million infrastructure investment in Wyoming this year. The in- vestment plan funds a range of initiatives: $38 million to maintain railroad track and $2.8 million to maintain bridges in the state. Key projects planned this year include a $10 million investment in the rail line in eastern Goshen and Niobara counties to replace 68,579 concrete railroad ties and install 21,967 tons of rock bal- last; and a $7 million investment in the rail line between Wam- sutter and Rock Springs to replace 58,382 railroad ties and install 39,375 tons of rock ballast. "Union Pacific's targeted investments fund projects that strengthen our railroad tracks, increase safety and minimize de- lays as trains travel through communities across Wyoming," said Donna Kush, Union Pacific vice president of public affairs, North- ern Region. This year's planned $41 million capital expenditure in Wy- oming is part of an ongoing investment strategy. From 2012 to 2016, Union Pacific invested more than $243 million strengthen- ing Wyoming's transportation infrastructure. Union Pacific plans to spend $3.1 billion across its network this year. c a l e n d a r o f e v e n t s June 13-15, 2017: Longwall USA, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Contact: Web: www.longwallusa.com. June 17-22, 2017: 16 th North American Mine Ventilation Symposium, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA. Contact: Tel: (303) 279-5563; Fax: (303) 277-8683; Email: space@mines.edu; Web: http://csmspace.com/. June 25-27, 2017: The 2017 Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute Annual Conference, Cheyenne Mountain Resort, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Contact: Web: www.longwallusa.com. August 29-31, 2017: AIMEX, Asia-Pacific's International Mining Exhibi- tion, Sydney, Australia; Contact: Web: www.aimex.com.au/home/. September 13-15, 2017: Bluefield Coal Show, Brushfork Armory-Civic Center, Bluefield, West Virginia, USA. Contact: Bluefield Chamber of Commerce; Tel: +1-304-327-7184; Web: www.bluefieldchamber.com. September 26-27, 2017: Platts 40 th Annual Coal Marketing Days Con- ference, Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contact: Web: www.coalmarketingdays.com. October 25-27, 2017: The World Coal Leaders Network, Hotel Melia Sitges, Sitges, Spain. Contact: Coaltrans Conference: Web: www.coaltrans.com/world-coal-conference/details.html.