Lahore – GE hosted ‘GE Technology Day’ seminars in Karachi and Islamabad under the theme ‘Powering Pakistan, Fueling Progress’. The events welcomed a select group of government end users, engineering, procurement and construction contractors, industry experts, power plant owners and operators, consultants and others.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that total electricity demand in Pakistan will rise to more than 49,000 megawatts (MW) by 2025. The Government has laid out ambitious goals under Vision 2025 to increase access to electricity from 67 percent to over 90 percent of the population and to reduce average cost per unit by over 25 percent by improving the generation mix. GE highlighted the company’s extensive breadth of advanced digital industrial technologies, solutions and services that can help meet these goals at the events.
A special highlight of the events was GE’s leading HA technology, the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine, which has set industry benchmarks in the cost-effective conversion of fuel to electricity. The turbine helped EDF’s power plant in Bouchain, France, achieve a world record in combined cycle efficiency of 62.22 percent. It has undergone full-speed, full-load validation tests at extreme conditions well beyond those encountered while in service and completed more than 12,000 operating hours. Sixty HA units have already been ordered to date by more than 15 customers across 15 countries, including Pakistan, the US, Brazil, Japan, Bahrain, China and others.
Ghassan Barghout, President & CEO of GE’s Gas Power Systems – Sales for the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan said, “GE Technology Days in Pakistan underline our commitment to support the country in strengthening its power infrastructure, reducing operational costs, and diversifying its energy sources. The events serve as a significant platform for stakeholders to meet and discuss how the power sector can become more efficient and productive by drawing on the latest technologies and digital capabilities. I am particularly proud to note the ongoing successful execution of the HA-powered projects in Pakistan. Last week, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Haveli Bahadur Shah (HBS) project to mark commencement of simple cycle operations at the site and we now have four 9HA gas turbines feeding power into the national grid at the Bhikki and HBS plants. The projects represent the fastest speed at which power plants of comparable size have ever been set up in Pakistan’s 70-year history.”
The events also covered GE’s extended gas power systems portfolio, which helps to deliver the output, operational flexibility and performance needed for today’s rapidly-evolving energy environment. This includes GE’s 9E and 13E2 gas turbines, which operate in the most rugged conditions and maintain the largest range of industrial uses; the 6F gas turbine, which has the durability and flexibility ideal for harsh and remote environments; the LMS100 aeroderivative gas turbine, which offers the highest simple cycle efficiency of any gas turbine in the world; emergency / mobile power solutions such as TM2500 trailer-mounted aeroderivative gas turbine generator sets that can be swiftly transported and commissioned in less than 11 days to provide up to 35 MW of reliable power; Hybrid Electric Gas Turbines (EGT) that combine energy storage and gas turbines for the first time to support renewables growth; and other solutions.
Experts also showcased how software solutions for the power sector based on Predix* – GE’s cloud-based operating system for industry – can help increase operational efficiency and reliability, contributing to a world of zero unplanned downtime and other benefits. For example, GE’s Asset Performance Management (APM) solution can enhance the reliability of combined cycle gas power plants up to 3 percent, while the Operations Optimization solution can improve operational efficiency up to 4 percent. GE is providing digital industrial solutions to several customers in Pakistan, including Hubco, Lalpir Power Limited, Sapphire Electric Company Limited and others.
GE and Engro Corporation Limited have also initiated a strategic alliance last year that will turn Engro into a key digital industrial partner for GE in Pakistan and the region. Engro will accelerate its transformation into a digital industrial powerhouse by selling GE solutions and becoming a system integrator of GE Power’s digital solutions to the power generation industry, as well as industries not currently served by GE in which they have deep domain expertise, such as foodstuffs, fertilizers and others. The solutions that will be introduced into the country and wider region through this agreement will result in the further development of the software innovation ecosystem in Pakistan.
GE has supported the development of Pakistan’s power generation sector for more than fifty years, providing advanced solutions to utilize various energy sources, including natural gas, coal, wind, hydro and others. Today, GE-built technologies can generate up to 25 percent of the country’s electricity and the company’s operations create employment for more than 400 people (direct and indirect) in Pakistan.
*Predix is a trademark of the General Electric Company.
