GE’s Fuel-Flexible Power Plant brings energy boost to Ghana

General Electric (GE) the world’s premier digital industrial company, on Monday said it had ordered 200MW new cycle power plant to be operated by Amandi Energy Limited at Aboadze in the Western Region.

The plant would help to add reliable and efficient capacity to the grid to tackle Ghana’s increasing demand for power.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the construction of the plant would be overseen by Metka, a leading international engineering company.

“GE’s fuel capabilities are unmatched and is having a turbine that is able to switch between fuels and can provide increased plant operability, allowing for power generation months before the indigenous gas supply would, otherwise, be available,” Boaz Lavi, the General Manager of Amandi Energy Limited Ghana, said.

“This is crucial in helping Ghana to meet her growing power needs,” he said.
He said GE would also provide the steam turbine, heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), associated balance of plant, and seven-year CSA.

Once operational, the 200MW plant would be one of the most efficient power
plants in the country and would generate the equivalent power needed to supply more than one million Ghanaian homes.

Mr Leslie Nelson, the General Manager of Gas Power Systems at GE, said: “Our customers have complex fuel needs and this project illustrates the breadth of solutions we are able to deliver to meet their expectations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“We are pleased that our strong regional presence allows us to get power to our customers, like Amandi Energy, quickly and efficiently.”

He said the rugged 9E can burn more than 50 types of fuels and can switch between natural gas, distillate the heavy fuel oil while operating under full load.

GE’s 9E.04 has multiple features that help reduce fuel costs and increase revenue such as a 145MW output and 37 per cent efficiency in simple-cycle.

He said GE had more than 3,000 E-class turbines installed throughout the world with 143 million combined operating hours.

GE works with the Government, corporate customers and other stakeholders in Ghana to support economic growth through infrastructure development in the power, healthcare and transport sectors.

In 2014, GE opened a 200-capacity permanent office in Accra and now has over 80 employees, 95 per cent of who are Ghanaians.

Source: GNA