GE Energy highlighted its broad portfolio of products and services including heavy-duty gas turbines at Power-Gen Middle East 2006, one of the region’s largest annual power events.

“With a strong economy and a rapidly increasing demand for power, the Middle East is one of the world’s fastest-moving and most promising power-generation regions,” said Abdullah Taibah, executive and general manager, GE Energy Middle East and Africa.
Forecasts call for the Middle East and North Africa region to add more than 74 gigawatts of new capacity by 2010. “Power-Gen Middle East provides an excellent forum for GE to showcase our capabilities and commitment to support the energy industry in this vital area,” Taibah noted.
Active in the Gulf since 1933, GE’s activities in the region are conducted through direct presence, joint ventures, strategic alliances and a wide network of distributors.
Among the technologies featured by GE Energy at the conference were:
• Heavy-duty gas turbines, including Frame 9E, 7EA, 6C and F-technology machines for base load, peaking, industrial cogeneration and combined heat and power applications. In addition, GE is a world leader in advanced gas turbine technology; its fleet of F-class gas turbines has compiled more than 14 million hours of commercial service worldwide.
• Aeroderivative gas turbines, including the 100-megawatt LMS100, one of the world’s most efficient simple cycle gas turbines; the LM6000, featuring improved dry low-emissions (DLE) technology; and the LM2500+G4, a fourth-generation machine delivering 12 per cent greater power than its predecessor.
• Jenbacher gas engines from 0.25 to 3 MW, offering the capability to burn a wide range of fuels including natural gas, biogas, landfill gas, coal gas, sewage gas or combustible industrial waste gases.
• Power-generation services; GE Energy operates a global service network for gas and steam turbines and generators, including multi-OEM equipment. The company also offers contractual service agreements designed to align GE and customer goals and provide performance guarantees such as availability and output.
• Complete control solutions, including customised turbine and generator controls for fossil, nuclear and hydro plants; integrated distributed control systems for power plants; and comprehensive engineering, project management and support services.
• Optimisation and control services, including reliability and maintenance programmes, Bently Nevada machinery diagnostic services data analysis, and turnkey project management.
• Hydropower solutions, including turbines and generators, water control equipment, environmental initiatives, balance of plant services and uprating and refurbishment of existing hydroelectric plants.
• Solar technologies, including modules, integrated systems and remote power solutions for residential and commercial installations.
• Wind power; a full range of wind turbines and services for the fastest-growing segment of the world power-generation industry.
• Environmental services, including diagnostic tools, system upgrades and replacement parts to help minimise emissions, maximise system performance and enhance the value of new and existing assets. 
In addition, GE Energy presented the following technical papers during the conference:
“Full-Scale Validation of the Inter-cooled LMS 100 Gas Turbine,” by Steve Rahm, LMS100 marketing manager; Michael J Reale, LMS 100 programme manager; and Phil Tinne, LMS 100 test director.
“GE Advanced Gas Turbine Experience,” by Rasheed Sulaiman, application engineer; and Garrick Joseph, gas turbine product line leader.
“The Changing Paradigm in Desalination,” by Clarence Snyder, emerging markets growth manager.
“Variable Frequency Transformer: Applications for Secure Inter-regional Power Exchange,” by Nicholas Miller and Kara Clarke, principals, GE Energy.
Power-Gen Middle East 2006 took place from 30 January to 1 February at the Abu Dhabi International Exhibitions Centre (ADIEC).