SGT-A45 mobile GT for Afghanistan

Siemens has signed an MoU with Bayat Power and the government of Afghanistan to provide a transportable “fast power” 44 MW SGT-A45 mobile gas turbine for the Bayat Power 1 gas-to-power project. It uses Trent aeroengine technology, which Siemens acquired in 2014 with the purchase of the Rolls-Royce gas turbine power plant business.

The turbine is the first phase of the Bayat Power 1 gas-to-power project, a $250 million IPP investment programme to be implemented in three phases.

“This first phase will help kick-start Afghanistan’s journey towards energy independence, help restore our domestic gas-to-power industry and develop our nation’s economy,” said Dr Ehsanollah Bayat, chairman of Bayat Power.

The SGT-A45 is packaged for rapid deployment and can be installed in less than two weeks. When required, the unit can be flown as air cargo to its installation site. The SGT-A45 can run on gas or liquid fuels, and transition smoothly between both fuel types while in operation. Low NOx can be achieved with optional water injection, which also boosts the unit’s power output particularly in warm climates. The unit can generate full power in less than eight minutes from start without need for auxiliary systems to maintain the unit in an operationally-ready standby mode, says Siemens, and in the event of a shutdown, the unit can be restarted at any time to restore power quickly, as it has no “hot lockout” restrictions.