Lockheed Martin forms energy group

BETHESDA, Md., March 16 (UPI) -- Defense company Lockheed Martin said it formed a new commercial line that would focus on expanding into the energy technology market.

The company is combining its energy products and technologies lines under a single entity called Lockheed Martin Energy. Frank Armijo, the company's newly-minted vice president, said the structure would build on a strong foundation in energy technologies.

"With our broad energy capabilities now under a single organization, we'll focus our business growth strategy, enhance collaboration, advance new technology and ultimately build Lockheed Martin Energy into a true leader in the expanding energy market," he said in a statement.

The Department of Defense has called for the addition of 3 gigawatts worth of renewable energy to help meet the electricity demands of military facilities. The mandate is part of a broader departmental directive to use renewable energy resources for at least 25 percent of its energy consumption.

Last month, Lockheed signed a 17-year purchase agreement to get solar-generated electricity from Duke Energy Renewables. Duke has a new solar facility in North Carolina that, as the largest plant of its kind east of the Mississippi River, is producing 80 megawatts of total energy. Lockheed secures about 40 percent of the total output.

Overseas, the defense company said it secured a $43 million contract to help with the development of a 5 megawatt power plant in Germany that will transform waste into energy.

Lockheed Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Marillyn Hewson said that, apart from national defense, "the challenges of extreme weather, climate change [and] environmental degradation" were emerging as rising security interests.