GE’s newly introduced 9EMax solution will help quickly deliver more power to the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), one of the world’s fastest-growing regions, at lower costs, GE announced.

“This breakthrough technology can significantly elevate the output and efficiency of existing GE 9E gas turbines while empowering power providers to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy the solution. The 9EMax‘s high-performing technology will better position GE’s Mena customers to meet the region’s projected 100+ per cent growth in energy demand through 2050,” a GE statement said. 

The 9EMax, announced at the Power-Gen Middle East annual trade conference, can deliver up to 143 MW of power and up to 37 per cent efficiency in simple-cycle operation (up to 210 MW and up to 53 per cent efficiency in combined-cycle operation). For GE’s 9E customers, this performance boost can open up as much as $6 million in new annual revenue opportunities per unit upgrade and as much as $5 million in annual fuel savings. With a fleet of more than 250 units across Mena, GE 9E customers can more effectively support the region, which will become the globe’s second largest consumer of gas as a power generation fuel source by 2020.

“The 9EMax is nothing short of a game-changing solution for our 9E customers,” said Azeez Mohammed, president and CEO, GE Power Generation Services, Middle East and Africa. “The high performance this technology brings to our customers opens up new doors for them to compete with larger block gas turbine machines and other power generation technologies across the region. Today’s announcement is a particularly exciting one for our team. The 9EMax can play a significant role in providing additional power to key areas of our region while giving our customers the ability to lower their operational costs in an environment of higher fuel prices.”        

This technology upholds the proven reliability of GE’s 9E gas turbine fleet, which exceeds 99 per cent operational availability across a global fleet of 700+ units. By harnessing this solution, GE customers can operate up to 32,000 hours or 900 starts between scheduled maintenance inspections, a period of approximately four years for typical continuous-duty power plants.  

The 9EMax solution also can be blended with GE’s OpFlex advanced controls software to more efficiently deliver additional power to Mena countries that experience long periods of hot climate conditions.

The 9EMax features GE’s first four-stage gas turbine technology in its B/E-Class upgrades portfolio. With a dimensional footprint equivalent to currently installed 9E units, GE customers can implement this solution with little to no impact on their plant’s power island assets.

GE’s newest solution is an addition to its Power LifeMax portfolio of B/E-Class gas turbine technologies. These offerings blend hardware innovations with advanced software technologies to unleash more value for GE assets and customers’ broader plant operations.

One of the highlights of GE’s participation at the event was the regional launch of the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbines – the 9HA and 7HA for 50 and 60 hertz applications. GE’s latest air-cooled H-class technology operates at more than 61 per cent combined cycle efficiency and leads the industry with cleaner, reliable and cost-effective conversion of natural gas to electricity. The 9HA also leads the industry in output, exceeding 470 MW per unit while using less gas per MW than any other turbine on the market.