• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

GE Energy to Supply 18 Gas Turbines, Services for Nigerian Projects Totaling 2000 Megawatts; One of Biggest Power Generation Projects in Country's History

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 December 2005, 12:00 CST

Marking one of the largest power generation agreements in the country's history, Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Power and Steel has selected GE Energy to supply 18 gas turbines, additional equipment and services for five power plants in the Niger Delta area that will add more than 2,000 megawatts to the country's electricity grid.

At the recent contract-signing ceremony, Nigerian officials called the agreement with GE a significant milestone for Nigeria's electricity sector, with the new plants expected to play a major role in improving the country's power generation capacity when they enter service in 2007.

All of the gas turbines for the five projects are GE Frame 9E machines. Installation sites include:

-- Calabar, five gas turbines totaling over 564 megawatts

-- Eyaen, near Benin City, four units, totaling over 451 megawatts

-- Sapele-Delta state, four units, totaling over 451 megawatts

-- Egbema in Imo state, three units, totaling over 338 megawatts

-- Gbarain/Ubie in Bayelsa state, two units, totaling over 225 megawatts

The gas turbines will be manufactured at GE's gas turbine plant in Greenville, S.C. and will be delivered to the Nigerian project sites from June to September 2006.

Since the units will operate solely on natural gas, the five new power plants will help to harness Nigeria's abundant gas reserves, which rank as the tenth largest in the world.

The gas turbines initially will operate in simple-cycle mode, with conversion to combined-cycle planned for the future.

In addition to the gas turbines, GE will supply generators and transformers, and will supervise the erection of the power plants. Under a separate, contractual service agreement, GE will provide maintenance, spare parts and repair services.

"Africa as a continent has tremendous potential and is a growth region for GE. These projects represent excellent opportunity for GE to further expand its scope of operations in Nigeria, in support of the country's promising economic growth plans," said John Krenicki, president and CEO, GE Energy. "In addition to supplying equipment, we hope to do more in the areas of providing specialized training and improving the technical capacity of the local workforce in Nigeria. GE is committed to working towards a better future for the people of Africa and will assist in driving economic growth for African communities," he added.

As well as the five new projects in the Niger Delta, GE Energy recently has received contracts to provide a total of seven gas turbines for three other power projects in Nigeria.

In addition to GE Energy, GE's Oil and Gas business has been active in Nigeria for more than 30 years, and recently opened a new Oil & Gas Service Center and Training Center in Port Harcourt.

About GE Energy

GE Energy (www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2004 revenue of $17.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category