GE Announces A First In Cement Industry

GE’s Power Services business announced several orders for its Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solution.

The company said that Saudi Cement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will accept the 6B gas turbine, and order that marks the first AGP installation in the cement industry. In addition, its order with Ohgishma Power marks the first win for GE’s 9F AGP technology in Japan.

“Since 2010, our revolutionary AGP technology has been installed on 435 units across four GE gas turbine fleets in 39 countries on five continents,” said Scott Strazik, president and CEO of GE’s Power Services business. “Now, we are expanding our AGP solution to GE 6B gas turbines to increase output and availability on our fifth gas turbine type. In certain industrial applications, the need for more megawatts, efficiency and flexibility is paramount, and our AGP technology can help cement companies like Saudi Cement increase their power capacity.”

In a deal that represents the first time GE’s AGP solution will be implemented to strengthen power generation productivity for the cement industry globally, GE will upgrade Saudi Cement’s three GE 6B gas turbines at its Hofuf plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The upgrade will help Saudi Cement increase power output and efficiency while reducing the need to draw power from the national grid in support of the Kingdom’s drive towards greater economic diversification. The AGP upgrade will help scale up the combined output by a total of up to 16.9% across the three turbines.

“Power supply is both a key input and one of the major costs in our manufacturing process. Reliable, efficient electricity supply is thus essential to the continuous operations of our facility as well as our competitiveness,” said Mohammed AlGarni, CEO of Saudi Cement. “GE’s Advanced Gas Path upgrade solution will allow us to improve efficiencies and become more self-sufficient in power.”

GE also announced that it signed a US$52 million agreement with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) to install its AGP technology on three GE 9E gas turbines at the Jebel Ali Power & Desalination Station. The upgrade will be installed next year. The agreement aims to increase energy production, improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in the future. It supports efforts to achieve the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy, as well as improving DEWA’s production efficiency, which increased by 28.86% between 2006 and 2017. The necessary improvements will be made to extend the life cycle of the gas turbines for an additional 12 years, increase production, improve efficiency and reduce emissions from these turbines.

In its first 9F AGP installation in Japan, GE signed a service agreement with Ohgishma Power Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K, to upgrade three GE 9F gas turbines with AGP, DLN2.6+ and OpFlex* technologies at the Ohgishima Power Station in Kanagawa. The upgrades will help Ogishima to improve efficiency by 2.5% and reduce its emissions level to 15 ppm nitrous oxide to help Tokyo Gas remain competitive and profitable in very dynamic power industry.

GE said its AGP solution offers customers a range of performance advancements that can be tailored based on their operational, business and energy market needs. It has delivered significant market-based benefits around the globe, including saving customers $775 million a year and providing about 7 GW of additional power capacity.