Keeping the World’s Lights on During the Pandemic

GE Gas Power employees continue to toil behind the scenes to help power the world. In China and Iraq, GE teams are working hard to ensure power plants are up and running as the world adjusts to a new normal.

"In our business, given the nature of what we do and, in turn, the basic but essential actions we help enable others to do—turn on the lights, refrigerate food, receive important medical care—our employees continue to play a crucial role every day," said GE Gas Power CEO Scott Strazik.

In China, GE safely and successfully completed its first major inspection project since the COVID-19 outbreak. In Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, GE has the largest installed base for the 9E gas turbine in China. In April 2019, GE announced that it had successfully completed the world’s first installation of its DLN1.0+ with Ultra Low NOx combustion upgrade on nine GE 9E gas turbines at five power generation enterprises to help improve air quality and public health throughout China by reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The project at Shenzhen Baochang Power Supply’s Baochang Power Plant addressed the aging parts of the two gas turbine units, which power the 360 MW plant.

"We are committed to taking all reasonable steps to mitigate any disruption to our delivery schedules, subject to our top priority — the health and safety of our employees and suppliers."

Xu Xin, China OTR Leader, GE Gas Power

“This upgrade was important to ensure the Baochang Power Plant was back up and running as quickly as possible, and the collaboration with Shenzhen Baochang was crucial to monitor and cope with the fast-moving situation,” said Xu Xin, China OTR leader, GE Gas Power. “We are committed to taking all reasonable steps to mitigate any disruption to our delivery schedules, subject to our top priority — the health and safety of our employees and suppliers. During the most severe period of the pandemic, our 21 on-site engineers from all different provinces and cities volunteered to go to the site and actively quarantine while coordinating with local governments, solving logistical problems and guaranteeing the end result. Their excellent professionalism and dedication to safety and seamless cooperation of all teams were crucial to the success of the project, which was completed ahead of schedule.”

Despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, GE Gas Power completed services on four 9F.03 gas turbines, two steam turbines and six generators at Iraq’s Besmaya Power Plant safely and on time. These service activities reduced the risk of unplanned downtime of power generation equipment at the site, enabling the plant to reliably supply up to 3 GW of electricity to the national grid to help meet the peak summer demand for power. Much of the electricity generated at Besmaya is fed to the capital Baghdad and surrounding areas and its uninterrupted operations are critical to power local healthcare facilities, homes, businesses and more.

Experts based in the Middle East and Europe liaised with the local site team through digital tools, video conferences and phone calls on a daily basis to remotely support mechanical and commissioning works, identify and transport stocks of parts that needed to be replaced and keep track of overall project progress. To reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19, additional hygiene, health and safety measures were implemented at the site, including more frequent disinfection and cleaning activities, thermal screenings of everyone entering the site, distribution of additional mandatory personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks, COVID-19 prevention training sessions, accommodation for staff on-site, as well as other precautions.

"I would like to thank the supportive staff at GE and MGH who stayed away from their loved ones for months, working long hours to secure reliable power supplies during this unprecedented period and for the hot summer months ahead."

Joseph Anis, President & CEO, Gas Power, Middle East, North Africa & South Asia

“As we work through these exceptional times, our resolve to support the Ministry of Electricity and people of Iraq by providing the electricity needed to power everyday life, growth and progress remains unchanged,” said Joseph Anis, president and CEO of GE Gas Power, Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. “Our top priority remains the safety of our people, while continuing to deliver results for our customers and the communities we serve. I would like to thank the supportive staff at GE and MGH who stayed away from their loved ones for months, working long hours to secure reliable power supplies during this unprecedented period and for the hot summer months ahead. Together, we are honored to make a positive difference to the lives of millions of Iraqi citizens.”

The amount of electricity these outages are protecting for in the global grid represents approximately 30 GW of power globally. And this is a team that is safely operating more than 90 percent of GE Gas Power's manufacturing facilities that are considered essential with more than 7,500 employees who are working hard every day to give our customers what they need to continue producing power for critical infrastructure.

"I want to extend my deep gratitude to our Gas Power team, inclusive of our FieldCore team—our 100% GE-owned Field Services organization of 12,000+ that leads our field efforts across 60+ countries in the world," said Scott. "I am incredibly humbled and proud of our team and the difference we continue to make around the world—from the staff in our factories making parts and equipment, to our service teams in the field installing equipment and conducting outages, to those adapting to working remotely while providing support for each other and our business."

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