(MENAFNEditorial) DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, June 1, 2017/APO/ -- Multiyear Agreement with Songas Will Upgrade Generation Equipment at the Ubungo Power Plant Fleet360* Upgrades will Help Improve Plant Efficiency by approximately 3 percent and Help Ensure Long-term, Reliable Operation of the Plant's Gas Turbines 180-Megawatt Ubungo Facility Currently Provides up to 25 Percent of the Power in Tanzania
GE's Power Services business (NYSE: GE) (www.GE.com) and Songas(www.Songas.com) signed a multiyear service agreement (MYA) to upgrade equipment at Songas' Ubungo Power Plant in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The MYA encompasses GE's Fleet360* (http://APO.af/F4HyCu) platform of total plant solutions, helping Songas ensure the long-term, reliable operation of its power plant. The upgrades will help Songas increase the efficiency and the plant's capacity at the Ubungo plant by approximately 10 megawatts (MW). Today the power plant provides nearly 25 percent of the power in Tanzania.
'Songas owns 6 gas turbines, including 4 GE LM6000 gas turbines which it has been operating at Ubungo Power Plant since 2004 said Nigel Whittaker, Managing Director, Songas Ltd. 'Songas and GE have been working together for several years to ensure high performances of these turbines.Songas is very pleased about this new initiative with GE to help increase the efficiency and reliability of the plant throughout the duration of its agreement.
Under the terms of the deal, GE (www.GEpower.com) will upgrade three of the four LM6000 gas turbines in the fleet from the LM6000PA to the LM 6000PC, expected to increase the output of the units from 38 megawatts (MW) to 43 MW each—and reaching output levels of up to 46 MW with GE's optional SPRINT technology. The eight-year MYA, which also includes maintenance and repairs of the gas turbines, will help Songas to increase the efficiency of the Ubungo plant to around 41 percent—approximately a 3 percent improvement.
'As the Government of Tanzania continues to pursue the expansion of generation capacity and extend the capability of its power grid, upgrading existing power plants to improve operation and efficiency is a must said Elisee Sezan, general manager, GE Power Services for Sub-Saharan Africa.'With GE's tailored, Fleet360 solutions, we are able to help Songas take advantage of the country's commercially available natural gas reserves to meet its increasing demand for available and reliable electricity. With this deal, we will help to better position the Ubungo plant to provide reliable, efficient power for the foreseeable future.
According to a World Bank's report [1], in Tanzania, less than 45 percent of the nearly 50-million-people are connected to the grid. The Government of Tanzania's sector reform plan aims to expand power generation capacity by up to 10,000 MW by 2025, helping to meet increasing energy demands driven by an economy that is expected to continue to grow at a rate of 7 percent annually in 2017 and 2018.
Aeroderivative gas turbines provide the ability to frequently and rapidly ramp up to meet load and demand fluctuations—a concern for power grids that rely heavily on renewable generation. They also offer the reliability and flexibility needed to bring power to people around the globe that otherwise may not be able to access it.
GE's LM6000 aeroderivative technology provides great flexibility with up to 41% simple cycle efficiency (56% combined cycle), fast-start (as little as 5 minutes from cold iron), fast ramping, and ability to cost effectively cycle multiple times per day.The LM6000 family has more operating hours than any other aeroderivative gas turbine greater than 40 MW.
'This project, the latest in our 13-year history with Songas, demonstrates our commitment to working with customers to bring power to more people and to help improve the efficiency and reliability of electricity throughout Africa, Sezan continued.
Recently, GE announced a landmark services deal in Algeria (http://APO.af/iOo4HI) to help strengthen the power sector and advance the digital industrial transformation in Africa. This month, the company also announced an order from AE Energia (http://APO.af/n16rSu) to help provide fast, digital power in Angola, and it is supplying the power generation equipment for the Bridge Power plant projectin Ghana (http://APO.af/zvROG7). In addition, GE will set up an M & D (Monitoring and Diagnostic) center in Ivory Coast that will provide the digital data and analytics service to improve the performance of GE equipment in the country.
* Trademark of GE; may be registered in one or more countries.
[1] Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, World Bank.
Distributed by APO on behalf of GE.
GE Signs Multiyear Agreement to Upgrade Gas Turbines at Songas Ltd.'s Ubungo Power Plant in Tanzania
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About Songas:
Commencing operations in 2004, Songas (www.Songas.com) was the first gas to power project in the country.It is majority owned by Globeleq, a leading IPP company in Africa. Songas uses four GE LM6000 gas turbines at its Ubungo Power Plant and generates electricity using gas from the Songo Songo Island gas fields off the coast of southern Tanzania. The power plant generates 189 MW of electricity, which accounts for approximately 25 percent of Tanzania's current electricity supply. This electricity is supplied to the national electricity grid and distributed to end users by the national utility, TANESCO.
About GE:
GE (NYSE: GE) (www.GE.com) is the world's Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry.
About GE's Power Services:
GE's Power Services, headquartered in Baden, Switzerland, delivers world-class solutions for our customers across total plant assets and their operational lifetimes. This organization supports 2,800+ customers worldwide with an installed base of 28,000+ power generation assets, which includes other OEMs, and taps into the Industrial Internet to improve the performance of our solutions over the entire life cycle through the power of software and big data analytics.
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