GE keen to promote small fuel-efficient power plants

HOUSTON: General Electric (GE) Power, the world’s leader in gas turbine technology, is keen to increase adoption of its cost-effective and fuel efficient aeroderivative plants for power production in Pakistan.

Martin O’ Neill, the Aero/Gas Turbine Cross-Fleet Product Line Leader for GE’s Power Services business, told The News that aeroderivative plants are often seen as a good choice in smaller scale, for up to 100 megawatts of electricity generation, with up to 45 percent efficiency compared to up to 35 percent for heavier gas turbines.

“The turbines are also popular due to their fuel flexibility as they allow a combination of natural gas and liquid fuel operation,” O'Neill said. At present, there are close to a dozen aeroderivative units installed in Pakistan, mostly by independent power producers in south and southwestern region. GE’s existing clients include K-Electric and Engro Group.

GE’s marketing team is already in contact with potential customers and prospects of positive breakthroughs are high.

O'Neill said the ability of a gas turbine to operate on multiple fuels or to be reconfigured to operate on newer fuels means that a power plant is never locked-in to a single fuel. “If LM2500 machine (gas turbine) operates for 8,000 hours per year, switching to a fuel that costs one dollar less can generate a cost saving of $2.1 million per year,” he said. “From a local perspective, the electricity unit costs are approximately Rs8/kWh (kilowatt hour) on local gas fuel and Rs12/kWh on diesel fuel.”

An aeroderivative gas turbine is a jet engine modified for land and marine application (LM) to generate power or propulsion. These are a popular choice for energy generation because of reliability, efficiency and flexibility.

Based on advanced aircraft engine technologies and materials, they are significantly lighter, respond faster and have a smaller footprint compared with their heavy industrial gas turbine counterparts. GE has more than 40 years of experience with more than 3,000 aeroderivative gas turbines in operation globally.

O'Neill said GE offers a wide array of equipment options and models to meet the most challenging energy requirements. “We have the ability to guarantee outcomes for customers – cost, turn time, performance – and reduce or eliminate those risks for our customers.” O'Neill, citing a research company’s study, said, the global aeroderivative gas turbine industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly five percent between 2016 and 2020.

“Aeroderivatives are likely to become the go-to technology to provide balancing services for renewable energy as there can be fluctuations in the production due to different factors,” he said.