Powering hope … GE’s HA gas turbines

Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, will be home to the planet’s largest – The European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The giant, expected to see the first light in 2024, will allow us to address the most pressing unsolved mysteries in the universe. Talking about the scale and size, the ELT will have a whopping collecting area of 978metre square compared with Hubble’s 4.5metre square and will provide images of the celestial bodies that are trillions of miles away 16 times sharper. The ELT will be capable of scouting for exoplanets, dark energies, and other elusive mysteries. Related astronomical inventions and discoveries have changed our view of the cosmos and helped the mankind to decode the formation of galaxies and stars, the weather patterns, and the changes on earth’s surface. Truly mesmerizing! Let’s go back to earth. 

To resolve some of the biggest challenges prevailing on the earth today, we certainly need solutions that have an astronomical impact on the lives of the people. Just like in astronomy, the multiplicity of the factors influencing any nation’s economy adds to the complexity of finding the right solutions and implementing them further. 

The Biggest Challenge … 

Among the biggest problems faced by most of the developing and emerging nations in the world is their burgeoning population. The impact of the growing population is immense and has a direct correlation with the economic growth of the countries. For instance, neighboring South Asian economies India and Bangladesh, home to about 20% of the world’s population, have a population density of 450 and 1265 per KM square respectively. Although having very different economic and political status, a significant chunk of the budgetary allocations in both the nations is used in making the basic human rights such as sanitation, healthcare, education, and electricity, accessible to the citizens. 

Picking up electricity from the above list, several less developed nations have pledged to provide ‘Power to All’ in the coming years and are investing heavily to develop the necessary infrastructure. The challenges that are affecting millions in the population should be met using the right technology that is able to provide the benefit to the masses. A solution that has a large canvas of application and an ability to relay massive economic benefits across the social strata for years to come. 

The Super Solution … 

Innovative offerings by global companies like GE have changed the way people live. Owing to the level of localization, GE has transformed the perceptions of the people towards meeting new challenges for over 125 years. Among such inventions, the GE’s 9HA Gas Turbine, famously known as HArriet and each weighing 800,000 pounds, built using super space-age materials and jet engine technologies has found a place in Fortune magazine’s Change the World List. 

What makes the technology in the 9HA Gas Turbines unmatchable is the efficiency levels it can attain. After hitting a world record of 62.22% efficiency rating at the Bouchain power plant in France, the technology is now available at 64% net efficiency in specified conditions with a total output of 826 MW in 1×1 combined cycle configuration. GE’s additive manufacturing and combustion technology breakthroughs have contributed towards this milestone achievement. A percentage point increase in the efficiency translates to millions in fuel savings for the customers. All thanks to the metal 3-D printed parts being used to achieve better mixing of the fuel and air prior to combustion. This attribute is significant as fuel can be anywhere from 50% to 80% of the cost of electricity.  

Across the globe, in six countries 20 installed HA Gas Turbines have together clocked more than 70,000 operating hours to date and it’s growing every hour. These air-cooled mammoth machines are pushed to limits at the world’s largest and most comprehensive test stand at GE’s Greenville gas turbine plant located in South Carolina. During the testing, over 6,000 sensors collect about 5 terabytes of data - as much information as half the printed collection of the U.S. Library of Congress. The data is used by the GE engineers to improve various performance parameters of the gas turbine, translating into huge savings on cost and time for the customers. 

With features such as reaching full power in less than 30 minutes, faster serviceability, first fire ready in just 26 weeks, simplified accessibility among many make the HA Gas Turbine an architecture driven by performance.

A Perfect Sense …

Considering a global shift toward increasing the share of renewable power in the energy mix, a cleaner source of power such as natural gas is necessary to provide the load balancing at the grid level. On the other hand, the global LNG glut will push nations to use more of natural gas-based power in the future.

Undoubtedly, both these factors can be a boon for the growth of the energy sector in India and Bangladesh. While India is moving aggressively to meet the ambitious renewable energy targets, Bangladesh, already a gas-based power economy, is on its way setting-up LNG terminals to ensuring energy security in the years to come. An exponential increase in the gas-based power generation can help both the nations to transform the power scenario.

Thinking about sustaining the economies for the long term, investing in adopting advanced technologies like the HA makes perfect sense for the countries who are looking ahead towards making electricity more accessible, sustainable and affordable. Thus, empowering the citizens to have access to unimaginable growth opportunities and taking a giant leap towards leading a normal life.