GE Energy to Provide Four LMS100 Gas Turbines to Three Latin American Power Companies
Contracts Include Sale of First 50-Hz Unit
NEW ORLEANS, LA - December 11, 2007 : - In response to a growing need for flexible power generation in the Southern Cone of Latin America, GE Energy has received contracts with three companies totaling over US$142 million to supply four 50-Hz LMS100 simple-cycle gas turbines.
Pampa Energia purchased the first 50-Hz LMS100 for its Pampa Guemes project expansion in the province of Chubut, Argentina. Following this purchase, Inversora Ingentis S.A., a special purpose company created by Emgasud and Pampa Holding, purchased two LMS100 units as part of a 500-megawatt development project that will ultimately include 400 megawatts of thermal and 100 megawatts of wind.
Following its fourth year of economic expansion, Argentina faces record high peak power demands. Private power generators, like Ingentis and Pampa, are responding to this growth with power generation systems that can be quickly dispatched to provide time of day demands to meet growing industrial and residential needs. The LMS100 is the ideal power generation system to meet these requirements.
The Chilean power company Colbun S.A. also recently purchased an LMS100 gas turbine unit. The system will be installed in April of 2008 at the Los Pinos project near Charrua in Region VIII outside of Santiago, Chile. Colbun has been a power producer in Chile since 1986, with both hydro and thermal power generating assets. The LMS100's fast 50 megawatt per minute ramp rate will complement Colbun's hydro generation in meeting power demands quickly.
The Chilean power market is very similar to deregulated states in the United States due to its use of nodal prices and spot markets. Santiago is located in the Central Integrated System (SIC) and has a total capacity of 8.4 gigawatts and a peak demand of 6.1 gigawatts. The SIC power market is supported by roughly 70 percent hydroelectricity and 25 percent natural gas and is in need of nearly 600 megawatts of new capacity annually to meet firm reserve margin needs.
All four LMS100 units, which will be manufactured in GE's Houston, Texas facility, are rated at 44 percent efficiency. The Pampa Guemes unit is expected to ship during the fourth quarter of 2007, with commercial operation expected in the third quarter of 2008. The Ingentis units will ship during the fourth quarter of 2008 and begin commercial operation in the middle of 2009. The Colbun unit is set to ship by the end of 2007 with commercial operation expected by the middle of next year.
"The high part-power efficiency and a near constant power profile over the temperature range were key considerations for Pampa, Colbun and Ingentis when choosing the LMS100 for their projects," said Charles (Chip) Blankenship, general manager of GE Energy's aeroderivative division. "The high efficiency of the LMS100, which is a product of ecomagination, allows it to produce less than 1,000 lbs of CO2 per MWh. Over the course of one year, the LMS100 reduces CO2 emissions by more than 30,000 tons when compared to a traditional simple-cycle 100-megawatt gas turbine plant."
GE Energy's aeroderivative business is a leading supplier of aeroderivative gas turbines and packaged generator sets for industrial and marine applications. The company provides power-generating equipment to utilities, industries and marine fleets throughout the world. It is also the world's largest and most experienced aeroderivative gas turbine service provider.
About GE Energy
GE Energy (www.ge.com/energy) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with 2006 revenue of $19 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels. Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE's corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges.
For more information, contact:
Ashley Houghton
GE Energy
+1 713 803 0371
ashley.houghton@ge.com
Gina DeRossi or Howard Masto
Masto Public Relations
+1 518 786 6488
gina.derossi@mastopr.com
howard.masto@ge.com
