* Areva receives several non-binding offers
* Alstom/Schneider among bidders
* GE has also submitted bid - source
(Adds detail)
By Julien Ponthus and Matthieu Protard
PARIS, Sept 18 (Reuters) - France's Areva is set to assess bids for its T&D power infrastructure business, the company said on Friday, including one from U.S. giant General Electric, a source familiar with the matter said.
"We have indeed received a certain number of offers," a company spokeswoman said. "They will now be examined to select which of them could lead to binding offers."
The nuclear reactor maker, in which the French state holds a 91 percent stake, wants to sell the T&D power transmission and distribution unit as part of an 11 billion euro ($16.17 billion) financing plan that includes a capital increase.
Analysts value T&D at 3 billion to 5 billion euros.
Engineering group Alstom confirmed it had submitted a bid with Schneider Electric. Alstom sold T&D to Areva in 2004 for less than 1 billion euros as part of a rescue plan.
General Electric also made an offer in a consortium including investment fund CVC, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Axa Private Equity had said it was considering an offer for T&D, a rival of ABB and Siemens. Axa declined to comment on Friday.
And Japan's Toshiba also planned to bid, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier this month.
The Areva spokeswoman declined to comment on the number of bidders or their identity.
The source close to the matter said whether the bidder was French or not was not an issue, but rather bidders had to provide a price range, an industrial plan and details of any impact on the workforce. ($1=.6802 Euro) (Editing by Simon Jessop)