Accelerating Like an Airplane
It may sound strange, but in a way a gas turbine in a power station can really accelerate like an airplane engine, thanks to the “aeroderivative” gas turbine technology which results in an unmatched combination of speed, reliability and efficiency. Being the result of imagination at work and based on a well-kown track record of life-changing innovations, the aeroderivative technology builds flexible and efficient natural-gas power plants, allowing them to quickly increase or decrease their electricity generation to compensate for variations in wind or solar power, making it easier to use intermittent sources of renewable energy.
An aeroderivative gas turbine like the FlexAero LM6000 – assembled at the GE Energy plant in Veresegyház, Hungary - can generate enough electricity for a town with as many as 50,000 homes and it can get from cold iron to 50 megawatts in just 10 minutes.
The gas turbine is the newest technological innovation in GE’s proven track record
Fast is the word that describes this technology best. “The heart of Aeroderivative gas turbines actually is an aircraft engine, which generates power. Once installed and fully operational, this technology ensures quick regulation and reach of full power capacity,” says Pierpaolo Mazza. How it works is that the thrust that normally pushes a plane, thunders into a power turbine which spins generator rotors that make electricity.
That gives nontraditional power generators, utilities that handle electricity generated by intermittent sources of renewable energy like wind and solar power, the possibility to handle fast-changing energy demands. They can, for example, reach full power in just 5 minutes [estimate based on performance of previous models of the GE Aeroderivative LM6000] ramp up at a rate of 50 MW per minute, enabling it to meet fluctuations in demand in near real time. It’s the world’s most flexible and efficient gas turbine in its class: we reach 50MW in less time than a brewed cup of coffee!
According to Mazza, the technology also allows facilities “to generate exactly the amount of energy which they actually need, decreasing at the same time CO2 emissions. The other key advantage is the quick construction of power plants, with a 12 month’s delivery cycle of turbines, and six more months for completion of the final construction and the start of operations.” The 60 Hz packages is assembled at the GE Aeroderivative facility in Houston, Texas, while the 50 Hz packages is manufactured in GE’sVeresegyház, Hungary facility.
The first GE project in Europe based on this technology was implemented in Bulgaria in 2004, when a contract was signed with Biovet in Peshtera for one LM2000 aeroderivative gas turbine. Two years later, GE Energy signed a contract with ISTROENERGO Group of Levice, Slovakia, to provide a six stage LM2500+G4 DLE aeroderivative gas turbine for installation in a cogeneration plant within the Toplofikatzia Pleven District Heating plant in Bulgaria.
Carmen Neagu, GE Energy region Executive South East Europe (left) and Daniel Minev, Senior Sales Account Manager Central and Eastern Europe (first, right) together with their guests from the media
In case you want to check all this for yourself, there is a new, free app available on iTunes® which highlights the first member of the FlexAero family of power generation products and includes product videos, fact sheets and some other useful information. You can also find out more about GE’s Aeroderivative business on Twitter (@GEAeroGT) and on Facebook (LM6000, LM2500, LM1800e, TM2500 product pages).
In case you want to check all this for yourself, there is a new, free app available on iTunes® which highlights the first member of the FlexAero family of power generation products and includes product videos, fact sheets and some other useful information. You can also find out more about GE’s Aeroderivative business on Twitter (@GEAeroGT) and on Facebook (LM6000, LM2500, LM1800e, TM2500 product pages).
