GE showcases advanced digital solutions

Business Monday 30/April/2018 15:22 PM
By: Times News Service
GE showcases advanced digital solutions

Muscat: GE Power is showcasing advanced technologies and digital solutions that are defining the ‘Future of Power’ by unlocking greater levels of efficiency and flexibility for the energy industry at the Oman Energy & Water Exhibition & Conference being held from April 30 to May 2, in Muscat.
Ghassan Barghout, President & CEO for GE’s Gas Power Systems, Sales business in the Middle East & North Africa, said, “Power sector leaders in Oman and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are focused on increasing the efficiency and flexibility of operations, diversifying the energy mix and lowering costs to ensure energy security and sustainability.”
“GE Power remains committed to supporting its customers meet these goals through industry-leading solutions that span across the electricity value network from the point of generation, to transmission, distribution and consumption,” he added.
The breakthrough technologies to be highlighted at the event include the world’s most-efficient heavy-duty gas turbine — GE’s HA technology. The turbine has undergone full-speed, full-load validation tests at GE’s Greenville, South Carolina facility in the United States at extreme conditions well beyond those encountered while in service.
Today, GE’s HA technology is the fastest growing fleet of heavy-duty gas turbines in the world, more than 75 units have been ordered to date by over 25 customers across more than 15 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan, Japan, Bahrain, China, France and others.
The technology has now set two world records, one for powering the world’s most efficient combined-cycle power plant, based on achieving 63.08 per cent gross efficiency at Chubu Electric Nishi-Nagoya power plant Block-1 in Japan and another for helping EDF’s Bouchain Power Plant achieve 62.22 per cent net combined cycle efficiency in France.
With these achievements, GE’s HA turbine has been recognized for powering the world’s most efficient power plants in both the 60 hertz (Hz) and 50 Hz energy segments.
Among its many benefits, the HA can also ramp up or down quickly, while still meeting emissions requirements to help balance grid instability. It thus offers an excellent flexible complement to intermittent renewable sources as Oman and other countries across the region increase the proportion of alternative energy in the energy mix.
GE Power will also present the Advanced Gas Path solution (AGP), which delivers tremendous value to customers through a range of performance advancements such as greater output and higher efficiency levels.
For example, it can increase the output of the 6F and 9E fleets, both of which are widely installed in Oman, by up to 4.2 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively. Today, the AGP has been installed on over 430 gas turbines operating in more than 35 countries on 5 continents.
Furthermore, GE will showcase its innovative energy storage platform called the Reservoir, which seamlessly integrates across the Grid to enable customers to increase renewables integration, improve financial performance, improve grid operations, reduce energy costs and enable more distributed, local generation. Also in focus will be GE’s advanced digital industrial solutions.
The intersection of digital and industrial is the biggest opportunity that exists today; the World Economic Forum estimates that applying digital solutions across the electricity value network (from production, to transmission and distribution, to consumption) can create up to $1.3 trillion in industry value during 2016-2025. GE is already helping its customers reap the benefits of the digital transformation of power. GE’s Asset Performance Management (APM) solution for example, has helped customers improve the reliability of power generating machines, reducing unplanned downtime by up to 5 per cent, lowering false positive alerts by up to 75 per cent and decreasing operations and maintenance costs by up to 25 per cent.
GE has supported the development of the energy sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for over 80 years. Oman’s very first gas turbine at Al Ghubra was provided by GE and today, GE’s technologies can generate up to 8 gigawatts (GW) of power in the country, accounting for up to a quarter of the Sultanate’s electricity.