GE's Ecomagination* Qualified Advanced Gas Path Technology Leverages Company's FlexEfficiency* Advantage to Cut Fuel Consumption, Emissions
· Solution Joins GE's ecomagination Portfolio with Industry-Leading Upgrade Performance
· AGP Technology Applies Data and Knowledge to Make Machines Smarter
· Proven Technology is Operating on 22 GE 7F Gas Turbines Worldwide
· FlexEfficiency* Advantage Taps the Power of the Industrial Internet, Connecting People, Data, and Machines
ORLANDO, FLA. - GE's (NYSE: GE) FlexEfficiency* Advantage Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solution has qualified for the company's ecomagination* portfolio by delivering proven, industry-leading upgrade performance to customers with existing GE heavy-duty gas turbines. AGP technology enables power producers to benefit from greater operational flexibility driven by increased output, efficiency and availability, while also reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Ecomagination is GE's commitment to providing innovative solutions that maximize resources, drive economic performance and help make the world work better.
GE made the announcement at this week's POWER-GEN International 2012 trade conference in Orlando, Fla. GE's AGP solution broadens the operating range of installed gas turbines with performance improvements including up to a 4.8 percent output increase and fuel efficiency improvement as much as 1 percent in combined-cycle operation. This solution also enables GE customers to benefit from the industry's longest maintenance intervals of up to 32,000 hours or 900 starts, which can extend outage intervals by up to 33 percent. AGP design innovations also can help lower lifecycle maintenance costs by extending gas turbine asset and parts life out to as much as 96,000 hours.
"Our customers are challenged on a daily basis to operate their existing assets under ever-changing market conditions while remaining compliant with evolving environmental regulations," said Fintan Tuffy, general manager, fleet analytics and performance management, GE's Power Generation Services business. "The Advanced Gas Path solution enables energy producers to generate more power when it's needed and, at the same time, strengthens our customers' position as environmental stewards in the communities that they serve."
To qualify for the ecomagination portfolio, products and services must significantly and measurably improve customers' operating performance or value proposition and environmental performance. GreenOrder, an LRN advisory group focused on sustainability strategy, verifies the offerings' claims.
Findings showed that a typical combined-cycle plant powered by a GE 7F gas turbine with AGP technology, and generating a net output of 525.2 megawatts (MW), can reduce its CO2 emissions by 11,400 tons per year. This reduction equates to the annual CO2 emissions of approximately 2,200 cars on U.S. roads. Under these same operating conditions, the site also could realize an annual fuel savings of more than $790,000 at a natural gas price of $3.75 per MMBtu.
GE's FlexEfficiency Advantage, which features the AGP solution, enables GE customers to deploy 21st century technology to their installed power generation assets and current operational demands. GE leverages the latest in thermodynamic design and its exclusive systems understanding to improve efficiency and output while maintaining low emissions. Since installing its first heavy-duty gas turbine in 1949, GE has amassed more than 25 terabytes of OEM engineering data, plus more than 93 million hours of real-world operating data. GE analyzes this vast repository of information daily to extract the fundamental, systems-based knowledge needed to optimize performance.
AGP technology is performing in 22 GE 7F gas turbines commissioned around the globe. Each has helped customers meet their changing market needs, including reduced emissions, lower operating costs and increased revenue generation.
· In Incheon, South Korea, Korea Southern Power Company, Ltd. (KOSPO) partnered with GE to install AGP upgrades on six 7F gas turbines at its Shinincheon plant to generate 130 MW of additional power, while reducing its NOx emissions from 20 ppm to 9 ppm. With Korea's burgeoning economy driving higher power demand, the project is helping ensure the country's grid stability and providing a higher margin of reserve power, which had previously dipped as low as 4 percent during peak demand periods.
· Calpine Corporation's Los Medanos and Pastoria plants in California, and Westbrook facility in Maine, have experienced a 5.5 percent output increase since installing AGP technology on six GE 7F gas turbines. They also have experienced an approximately 1 percent improvement in site heat rates. This performance has better positioned the plants to bid more competitively for power demand, as well as capitalize on opportunities to capture additional revenue.
· In Alberta, Canada, TransCanada Energy Ltd.'s MacKay River cogeneration plant needed a solution to deliver more electricity and steam capacity, while maintaining high operational availability to support its nearly 24-hour-a-day manufacturing cycle. The upgrade currently is being installed and MacKay expects to increase its power output by 4.5 percent, while maintaining its low emissions footprint to remain aligned with Alberta's clean energy policies.
* Trademark of General Electric Company; may be registered in one or more countries.
