GE Vernova Boosting Gas Turbine Capacity With Technology Upgrade

GE Vernova will install new equipment at a power plant in Iraq, its first use of the company’s upgraded AGP XPAND technology. The latest version is an evolution of GE Vernova’s Advanced Gas Path (AGP) system introduced more than a decade ago on the company’s 9E.03 fleet to boost gas turbine capacity.

The first AGP XPAND is planned for the 1,250-MW Bazyan Power Plant, which is operated by Taurus Energy, a portfolio company of Onex Group. Onex is a private energy group involved in power generation, utilities, energy trading, shipping, and refining.

The April 28 announcement included a ceremony in Sulaymaniyah, a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The celebration included several government officials.

GE Vernova on Monday said the new technology “is engineered to help gas plant power producers and industrial operators increase their 9E.03 gas turbines output by up to approximately 7%, with an approximately 1% [increase] of incremental efficiency, while keeping reliability, availability, and maintenance largely unchanged.” The company said the technology could increase exhaust energy by up to 2.6% to produce more steam or power in combined heat and power (CHP) or combined-cycle plants, including the Bazyan facility.

Modernize Bazyan Plant

Taurus has said the technology will modernize the Bazyan plant, which features four GE Vernova 9E.03, and two GE Vernova 9F.04, gas turbines. The natural gas-fired plant also uses light fuel oil as backup fuel. The AGP XPAND upgrade “is expected to enhance the current capacity and deliver additional much-needed electricity to the Kurdistan Region as well as nearby cities and governorates such as Mosul and Salahaldin,” according to GE Vernova.

A new 17-year service agreement was signed that covers four GE Vernova’s 9E units along with the first 9E Rotor Life Extension package in Iraq.

“We have a long-standing relationship with GE Vernova. For over a decade, we have been utilizing GE Vernova’s technology, and we are proud that Taurus, part of the Onex Group, is leading the way in bringing this breakthrough technology to Iraq,” said Sheikh Saad Tayeb Hasan, founder and chairman of Onex. “By utilizing Kurdistan Region’s natural gas resources and power generation capacity, we are laying the foundation to create an energy hub. Through projects like Bazyan, we can contribute to the efforts to meet local energy needs as well as transmit additional power to other parts of the country. Our celebration today truly confirms GE Vernova’s long-term commitment to Iraq.”

GE Vernova said the improvements to the technology are “built on 9E’s fleet experience and the technical improvements from the 9E.03 AGP … AGP XPAND components have evolved by making additional updates to the materials and sealing of AGP components, enabling a substantial increase [to] the firing temperature above that of the 9E AGP.” The company said the components were engineered by GE Vernova teams in Greenville, South Carolina, and at GE Vernova’s Engineering Center in Warsaw, Poland. The components produced at the company’s manufacturing plants in Belfort, France, and Vereseghyaz, Hungary.

“With over 730 units deployed worldwide, half of which are installed in the Middle East and Africa, GE Vernova has the largest operating and most experienced E-class fleet in the world and confirms its commitment to keep its mature fleets competitive in today’s very dynamic marketplace,” said Amit Kulkarni, head of Product Management & Strategy, Gas Power at GE Vernova. “Improving existing technologies is the fastest way to inject power to the grid. The modernization of the current 9E.03 installed base can boost the power output and efficiency of existing 9E.03 gas turbines across the world. This would lead to a possible cumulative increase of up to 5 gigawatts of electricity at the global level, and a combined more than $100 million in fuel savings annually for the same baseline output, while opening up the potential for an aggregate incremental profitability of up to $310 million annually due to the new power capacity.”

Upgrading 9E.03 Turbines

GE Vernova on Monday said the 9E.03 units, whether burning natural gas, distillate oil or ash-bearing fuels, and operating in either a simple- or combined-cycle configuration, can be upgraded to AGP XPAND during a typical hot gas path or major inspection.

“We are delighted to celebrate the new long-term service agreement and the installation of our new upgrade at the Bazyan power plant,” said Joseph Anis, president & CEO of GE Vernova’s Gas Power business in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “We trust this upgrade represents an excellent solution for countries like Iraq, which have a large 9E.03 installed base and pressing needs to meet growing energy demand. We are delighted to work with Taurus Energy on this essential project as reliable operations at strategic facilities, such as the Bazyan power plant, are crucial to sustain economic development efforts across the country.”

GE Vernova has supported the development of energy infrastructure in Iraq for 60 years, and has supported construction and service of power plants and power grid substations. The company said it has added more than 19 GW of power generation capacity in Iraq since 2011. It has built and energized more than 30 substations since 2015, and mobilized more than $3 billion in financing for energy projects since 2015.

—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.