GE Advanced Gas Path Upgrade Helps Korean Utility Win Finalist Honors for Power Engineering's Best Gas Project of the Year Award
o Korea Southern Power Company, Ltd. (KOSPO) Receives Recognition at POWER-GEN International Conference
o Advanced Gas Path Solution has Boosted KOSPO's Power Capacity in Response to Country's Growing Demand for Electricity
o Project Helps Ensure Grid Stability by Increasing Region's Grid Reserve Margin
o Announcement of Additional KOSPO Upgrades Marks Commitment for GE's 100th AGP System
o FlexEfficiency* Advantage Taps the Power of the Industrial Internet, Connecting People, Data, and Machines
ORLANDO, FLA. -- GE (NYSE: GE) customer Korea Southern Power Company, Ltd. (KOSPO) today was recognized as a finalist for a Power Engineering 2012 Best Gas Project of the Year award at the POWER-GEN International 2012 trade conference in Orlando, Fla. To respond to growing power demand in the region, KOSPO, South Korea's largest electric utility, installed GE's Advanced Gas Path (AGP) upgrade technology on six 7F gas turbines at its Shinincheon plant. GE developed the AGP solution by leveraging its FlexEfficiency* Advantage, which applies unparalleled data analytics and knowledge to make customers' existing assets smarter.
"We are a leading power provider in South Korea, and this project is an important part of our strategy to meet the region's current energy demands and future economic expansion," said Kyung-kyu Lim, manager, KOSPO's PowerGen department. "Using GE's technology helped us to expand the performance of our current power generation equipment and quickly deliver additional electricity to our customers. We achieved this without the infrastructural and environmental impacts we would have faced by building a new plant. KOSPO thanks GE for being a true partner on this project, as well as Power Engineering for this wonderful recognition. "
South Korea, one of the few developed countries able to avoid recession during the global financial crisis, saw its economy grow more than 6 percent in 2010 due to a burgeoning manufacturing base and steady population growth. KOSPO needed an immediate solution to help ensure grid stability without negatively impacting the company's commitment to reducing its environmental footprint.
KOSPO and GE collaboratively developed a plan to optimize the performance of six existing GE gas turbines at Shinincheon. The project included installing GE's early AGP technology, combined with an enhanced compressor, dry low NOx (DLN2.6) extended interval hardware combustion system and cooling optimization package. Since completion of the installation, the upgrade has resulted in total incremental output of 130 megawatts (MW), plus reduction in NOx from 20 ppm to 9 ppm. The additional capacity also is playing an integral role in ensuring the region's grid stability by elevating its reserve power margin, which had dipped as low as 4 percent during peak demand periods.
"We are delighted to see KOSPO receive such esteemed recognition for the impact this project is making in South Korea," said Fintan Tuffy, general manager, fleet analytics and performance management, GE's Power Generation Services business. "Their commitment to fulfilling the needs of their customers, while strategically planning for the country's ongoing economic growth, was evident throughout this project. With our local resources in the region, the GE team was able to complete this project on KOSPO's compressed schedule, and will be available to support the plant throughout its lifecycle."
GE today also announced an agreement with KOSPO to install AGP technology on two additional 7F gas turbines, marking its 100th AGP system commitment to date. KOSPO will have the upgrades installed on units at the Pusan plant located in Incheon. The upgrade is expected to deliver 20 MW of additional power while maintaining low NOx emissions of 9 ppm. This announcement further extends KOSPO's partnership with GE to help South Korea keep pace with its steadily growing energy demands.
Installed in three phases, the project was challenged to return the units to service as quickly as possible. GE's site team responded by reducing the outage by seven days, while maintaining the safety and technical integrity of the upgrade. The upgraded units, to date, have contributed more than 6,745,980 MWh in accumulated generation to the grid.
The AGP solution delivers industry-leading upgrade performance featuring increased output, efficiency and availability, which can be deployed flexibly according to operational needs. AGP upgrade technology broadens the operating range of installed gas turbine assets with performance improvements including up to a 4.8 percent output increase and fuel efficiency improvement as much as 1 percent, both 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.
The AGP solution has qualified for GE's ecomagination* portfolio. This technology enables power providers to reduce fuel consumption up to 1 percent or more, as well as CO2 emissions, while operating with the flexibility they need amid shifting market conditions. ecomagination is GE's commitment to imagine and build innovative solutions to today's environmental challenges while driving economic growth.
Through the FlexEfficiency Advantage, GE customers can 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 experience to deliver modern-day 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. This vast repository of information is analyzed every day to extract the fundamental, systems-based knowledge needed to optimize performance.
For more information and images, visit GE's POWER-GEN International site.
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GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
About GE Power & Water
GE Power & Water provides customers with a broad array of power generation, energy delivery and water process technologies to solve their challenges locally. Power & Water works in all areas of the energy industry including renewable resources such as wind and solar; biogas and alternative fuels; and coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. The business also develops advanced technologies to help solve the world's most complex challenges related to water availability and quality. Numerous products are qualified under ecomagination, GE's commitment to providing innovative solutions that maximize resources, drive efficiencies and help make the world work better. Power & Water's seven business units include Aeroderivative Gas Turbines; Gas Engines; Nuclear Energy; Power Generation Services; Renewable Energy; Thermal Products and Water & Process Technologies. Headquartered in Schenectady, N.Y., Power & Water is GE's largest industrial business.
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