GE Turbine Problems Hit Power Generation at 3 Pakistani Plants

Pakistan's Central Power Purchasing Agency's report shows that General Electric's 9HA-Class turbines produced only half of their capacity this August, according to Reuters. Power executives and government officials in the country said the GE turbines had operational issues like long outages and production delays.

GE Turbine Problems:

Bhikki Power Plant, Punjab, Pakistan
The GE turbine problems affected three key plants – Bhikki of Punjab government and Balloki and Haveli Bahadur Shah of the federal government – with a total capacity of 3,600MW that are considered crucial to end load shedding within the ruling PMLN's 5-year term ending middle of 2018.

Consequences For Pakistan:

Pakistan's government is failing to deliver on its promise to end load-shedding this year because of serious issues with GE's 9HA-Class turbine.

"It had terrible consequences because we lost a lot of power which would have come to the grid during the peak summer," Yousuf Naseem Khokhar, a top official in Pakistan's Energy Ministry's power division, told Reuters. "It is now up to General Electric to rise to the challenge and to take care of these issues ... before next summer starts," he said.

Pakistan is recognized as a major growth market for power turbine makers because its booming economy has a well-developed gas infrastructure. General Electric has lost a lot of credibility after its failure to deliver in Pakistan. The country awarded its most recent power contract to Siemens, after bidding by several companies, including GE.

Impact on GE Business:

General Electric claims its 9HA-Class turbines are highly efficient turbines which have secured place in the Guinness World Records of 2016, for the amount of electricity they have produced from natural gas at a power plant in Bouchain, France. The Bouchain plant has had 26 forced outages in the 15 months ending November, according to data published by operator Electricite de France (EDF).

JPMorgan analyst Stephen Tusa has warned GE's Pakistan problems could affect other plants around the world, where GE has already "sold" 30 units. GE dismissed criticism, saying the turbines were merely experiencing setup challenges. But the problem could be another setback in a year of plunging stock and "horrible" third-quarter results for the company whose stock has already suffered a major decline this year.

Summary: 

General Electric 9HA-Class gas turbines are not delivering the power Pakistan was counting on to end unscheduled power outages in the country.  These problems could hurt election prospects for Pakistan's ruling PMLN party if they are not fixed soon and the party fails to keep its promise to end electricity load-shedding.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan Among Fastest Growing LNG Markets

PMLN to End Load Shedding 

CPEC to Create 2 Million New Jobs

Pakistan's Booming Economy







Comments

Riaz Haq said…
This year's downturn in India followed the country's first reverse auction in February, which saw tariffs crashing to INR 3.42/kWh ($0.052/kWh). In comparison, feed-in-tariffs across the states at the time were INR 4-6/kWh ($0.06-$0.09/kWh).

The fallout was swift, with nearly all states discouraging or stopping feed-in-tariff (FIT)-based purchasing. Industry experts saw the low tariff as an anomaly, despite the second wind auction pushing prices down even further to INR 2.64/kWh ($0.04/kWh).

The government is planning additional auctions — for as much as 6GW in the next four months. However, wind-power developers and manufacturers are having to cope with the impacts of the sudden downturn.

Perhaps most notably affected was Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), which has struggled over the past nine months, blamed, in part, on the market downturn. Prior to the merger between the two major European OEMs, Gamesa was the leading manufacturer in India.


https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1453174/the-inr-264-kwh-tariff-aberration
Riaz Haq said…
Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant Complete in Pakistan
The project is among the largest gas-fired combined cycle plants in the country
May 10, 2018

http://www.tdworld.com/utility-business/haveli-bahadur-shah-power-plant-complete-pakistan

Pakistan's Haveli Bahadur Shah (HBS) power plant has completed all commissioning activities and has now started combined cycle commercial operations to add up to 1,230 MW of reliable power to the national grid. The project is among the largest gas-fired combined cycle plants in the country, capable of supplying the equivalent power needed to meet the electricity needs of up to 2.5 million Pakistani homes and one of the most efficient combined cycle power plants in the world today.

“The start of combined cycle commercial operations at HBS Power Plant marks a major milestone in the power sector of Pakistan, supporting the government’s goal to enhance access to reliable, affordable power,” said Rashid Mahmood, CEO of National Power Parks Management Co. Ltd (NPPMCL) .

The HBS project was initiated by NPPMCL, which is solely owned by the Government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Water & Power, and was entirely funded through the Public-Sector Development Programme (PSDP). SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Co., Ltd is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project, responsible for setting up the power plant and all commissioning activities. GE has supplied two of its advanced HA heavy-duty gas turbines, one steam turbine and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) for the plant, as well as technical advisory services.

Wang Zengxu, SEPCOIII’s Project Director at HBS said, “The Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant demonstrates the power of global collaboration with the application of best-in-class technology. We have drawn on a leading combination of exceptional Chinese engineering skills and know-how, together with GE’s record-setting technology for the facility, to build the most efficient combined cycle power plant in the country.”

The Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant is about the size of 65 football fields and staff from over 35 countries worked together to complete the project. The project’s execution has been among the fastest globally and three to four months shorter than typical for projects of comparable scale and complexity. Performance tests to date indicate that HBS has set world record levels of efficiency.



Pakistan's Haveli Bahadur Shah (HBS) power plant has completed all commissioning activities and has now started combined cycle commercial operations to add up to 1,230 MW of reliable power to the national grid. The project is among the largest gas-fired combined cycle plants in the country, capable of supplying the equivalent power needed to meet the electricity needs of up to 2.5 million Pakistani homes and one of the most efficient combined cycle power plants in the world today.

“The start of combined cycle commercial operations at HBS Power Plant marks a major milestone in the power sector of Pakistan, supporting the government’s goal to enhance access to reliable, affordable power,” said Rashid Mahmood, CEO of National Power Parks Management Co. Ltd (NPPMCL) .

The HBS project was initiated by NPPMCL, which is solely owned by the Government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Water & Power, and was entirely funded through the Public-Sector Development Programme (PSDP). SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Co., Ltd is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project, responsible for setting up the power plant and all commissioning activities. GE has supplied two of its advanced HA heavy-duty gas turbines, one steam turbine and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) for the plant, as well as technical advisory services.
Riaz Haq said…
#GE helps CPHGC in Hub #Pakistan achieve major #power plant milestone 3 months early. New #coal-fired plant will provide 1,320 megawatts (MW) to help Pakistan address its growing #energy needs and build energy independence https://www.powermag.com/press-releases/ge-helps-cphgc-in-pakistan-achieve-major-power-plant-milestone-three-months-early/#.XJ-BQmQ-Ph0.twitter

The first of two supercritical turbines from GE Steam Power has successfully synchronized to Pakistan’s national grid at China Power Hub Generation Company’s (CPHGC) new power plant three months ahead of schedule.

The 1,320 MW plant is located 25 kilometers southwest of the town of Hub, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, and is a joint-venture project between China Power International Holding Limited (CPIH) and Pakistan’s Hub Power Company (HUBCO).

This important milestone was met just 27 months after the project first received go-ahead. Under an agreement signed in 2016, GE is supplying the core power generation equipment for the project, which comprises two units each of supercritical boilers, steam turbine and generator sets. The project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors are Northwest Electric Power Design Institute Co. Ltd. (NWEPDI) and Tianjin Electric Power Construction Company (TEPC).

“This is a world-class example of GE’s global engineering, manufacturing and execution teams working closely together along with our customers to beat an already ambitious delivery schedule,” said Andreas Lusch, President & CEO of GE Steam Power. “Reaching this key milestone early required a very high degree of technical, engineering and production coordination between our factories in Wuhan and Beijing, China and Wroclaw, Poland with the highest commitment to quality and on-time delivery for our customers.”

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