GE’s Cross-Fleet Gas Turbine Solutions Help GPG’s Tuxpan Plant Compete in Mexico’s Power Industry
- Upgrades to M501F Gas Turbines and Other Components Deliver Industry-Leading Performance,
Achieving an Output Increase of 9.2 Percent and a 2.9 Percent Efficiency Improvement on One of Tuxpan’s Gas Turbines
- GE Collaborated with Global Power Generation (GPG), a Subsidiary of Naturgy Energy Group, to
Deliver a Total Plant Solution for Tuxpan Power Plant
- Results Exceeded GPG’s Expectations, Positioning the Site to Dispatch More Power to the Mexican
Grid and Improve Operating and Maintenance Costs
- Upgrades Completed as Part of a 12-Year Agreement to Service GPG’s Power Plant
Continuing its commitment to invest in and deliver total gas plant solutions for its customers, GE’s Power Services business
(NYSE: GE) today announced industry-leading results for its cross-fleet gas turbine upgrade project at the Fuerza y Energía de
Tuxpan facility in Veracruz, Mexico.
GE exceeded its commitment for the project, achieving an output increase of 9.2 percent and a 2.9 percent efficiency improvement
on one of Tuxpan’s gas turbines, while extending maintenance intervals to 32,000 hours for the 450-megawatt (MW) power plant. GE
applied its cross-fleet technologies to two Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. M501F gas turbines and two steam turbines, helping
Tuxpan deliver power more competitively to an expanding electricity segment across eight states in Mexico. Tuxpan is owned by
Global Power Generation (GPG), the international power generation subsidiary of
Naturgy and the Kuwait Investment Authority.
“At GPG, we provide service to more than 1.5 million people, and we are continuously looking for ways to improve the
availability and efficiency of our operations to better serve our customers,” said Fernando Ramos, chief operating officer of
GPG. “GE’s cross-fleet upgrade for our M501F machines achieved better results than they promised, allowing us to realize
greater value from our equipment and improve our plant performance. Having a services provider like GE that can address plant-level
improvements is important. One of our biggest concerns when upgrading a gas turbine is ensuring the rest of the plant can support
any changes in performance.”
GE completed the work as part of a 12-year agreement, showcasing
its Fleet360* platform, which offers plant owners tailored solutions for all power generation equipment, regardless of whether
the components were originally supplied by GE or another equipment manufacturer.
The upgrades at Tuxpan include new gas turbine hardware infused with GE’s patented materials technology and improved engine
component architecture, which takes advantage of decades of experience in developing and manufacturing gas turbines. GE also
serviced Tuxpan’s steam turbines, uprated its generator systems and installed a combustion dynamics monitoring system to help the
site identify combustion issues before they occur.
“This has been a terrific partnership with GPG over the last two years,” said Scott Strazik, president and CEO of GE’s Power
Services business. “We’re proud of the work we did at Tuxpan, where we were able to demonstrate our ability to service gas turbines
manufactured by other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). But cross-fleet isn’t just about servicing non-GE machines. It’s
about adopting them and making them our own—by applying our technologies and expertise from the world’s largest installed base over
their life cycle.”
Added Jim Kaveney, president and CEO of the Americas region for GE’s Power Services business, “GPG was the ideal candidate with
which to develop this new upgrade, and this milestone strengthens our long-standing relationship. Over the last 20 months, GE has
maintained and serviced gas turbines installed at three power plants to lower their operational costs. Today, this project shows
how GE solutions can increase the level of flexibility and performance at the plant level and help our customers, like GPG, remain
competitive in a highly dynamic industry.”
In May, GE unveiled a range of capabilities to advance the performance and serviceability of other OEM gas turbine fleets,
including Siemens’ and Mitsubishi’s SGT-800 and 501F units. GE also announced more than $200 million in backlogged gas turbine
cross-fleet orders. GE’s injection of its advanced capabilities and technology into these fleets will help gas plant operators,
like GPG, gain more flexibility and efficiency along with longer maintenance intervals and better overall performance. The
completion of the project at Tuxpan marks the latest of 12 completed outages across varying scopes and engine types since the
inception of the cross-fleet solutions business.
About GPG
GPG was set up in 2014 by Naturgy and Kuwait Investment Authority KIA—through its subsidiary Wren House Infrastructure—as a
vehicle to channel its international electricity generation business, one of the main growth vectors identified by the group. It is
a multinational pioneer in the integration of gas and electricity and the main gas distribution company in Mexico and the KIA. GPG
develops and manages power generation assets with a global focus on using technologies in which its experience guarantees success.
GPG also offers its customers engineering, operation and maintenance services for their facilities. In
México, Global Power Generation operates four Combined Cycle Power Plants, two in the state of Sonora, one in Veracruz; and another
in Durango. As well as the Bií Hioxo Wind Farm in the state of Oaxaca; which have a total generation capacity of 2,523 MW.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) 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. www.ge.com
About GE Power
GE Power is a world energy leader providing equipment, solutions and services across the energy value chain from generation
to consumption. Operating in more than 180 countries, our technology produces a third of the world’s electricity,
equips 90 percent of power transmission utilities worldwide, and our software manages more than forty percent of the
world’s energy. Through relentless innovation and continuous partnership with our customers, we are developing the energy
technologies of the future and improving the power networks we depend on today. For more information please visit http://www.ge.com/power,
and follow GE Power on Twitter
and on LinkedIn.
About GE’s Power Services
GE’s Power Services business delivers world-class service solutions for our customers across total plant assets and their
operational lifetimes, tapping 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. Follow on LinkedIn
at GE’s Power Services or visit website at www.ge.com/power/services.
* Trademark of GE; may be registered in one or more countries.
GE Power - Power Services
Laura Aresi, +39 02 67335622
Global Media Relations Leader
laura.aresi@ge.com
or
Soteryx Corp.
Gina DeRossi, +1 518-866-1076
gina.derossi@soteryx.com
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