Ansaldo Energia deploying first MXL3 upgrade

Ansaldo Energia will implement the first installation of its MXL3 upgrade for GT26 gas turbines at a combined cycle power plant in the Netherlands owned by ENGIE.

A GT26 gas turbine. During the spring 2023, in the frame of a scheduled major inspection, Ansaldo Energia will implement the first installation of the MXL3 upgrade for GT26 gas turbines at Maxima-Flevo combined cycle power plant owned by ENGIE.

The MXL3 upgrade, which will take place at the Maxima Flevo plant during a regularly scheduled inspection in 2023, is designed to increase performance, reduced CO2 footprint and H2 co-firing readiness, the company said. This upgrade features latest H-class technology, delivering up to 25 MW more gas turbine power output at an increased gas turbine efficiency in excess of 1.5%, the company said. Additionally, the maintenance interval will be extended to 40 000 Equivalent Operating Hours, confirming the same intervals of the well-established MXL2 Upgrade.

The MXL3 upgrade allows extensive operational flexibility by switching between ‘performance’ optimized mode and ‘maintenance cost’ optimized mode depending on the market requirements, the company said. Overall, MXL3 will boost the present maximum output of Maxima-Flevo 5 combined cycle generation unit with up to 35 MW and will make it the first F-Class gas turbine in Central West Europe reaching more than 60% efficiency, the company said.

Reduced CO2 footprint with H2 co-firing option

The increase in efficiency could result in up to 40 000 tons of CO2 savings on a yearly basis depending on the running profile. In addition, MXL3 technology promotes fuel flexibility and allows the co-firing of hydrogen up to 45% of volume flow, with no additional changes to the gas turbine hardware. In order to accelerate its role in the energy transition, ENGIE is evaluating opportunities to apply Ansaldo MXL3 technology to the GT26 of its European fleet.

With this state of the art and low carbon gas-fired power plants, ENGIE has the ambition to complement the full deployment of renewable energy while preparing its fleet to generate substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions in the longer term. This is fully in line with ENGIE’s commitment to reach its Net Zero Carbon objective by 2045 for all direct and indirect emissions.

“The implementation of the cutting edge H-Class technology into the existing F-Class units will enable our customers to keep up with an increasingly demanding energy market,” said Giuseppe Marino, CEO of Ansaldo Energia. “This also prove the Ansaldo Energia commitment to support gas turbine fleet on the long term with all the new technology as soon as available. Even more, we are proud for the trust ENGIE places in Ansaldo Energia.”