Global power generation company Alstom has announced an upgraded version of its successful GT13E2 gas turbine.
The turbine is Alstom’s offering in the E-class market. E Class describes a gas turbine technology level where the firing temperature is around 1300°C. The turbine was originally launched in 1993 and is, says its maker, a leader in its class, offering the highest output, flexibility and reliability. More than 150 turbines have been installed worldwide representing a total generation capacity of over 32 GW. It has recorded over seven million operating hours and has been used in various configurations and industrial applications globally. Alstom registered a strong order intake for the GT13E2 gas turbines in 2011, eight engines being sold in Russia alone, making it the highest selling engine in this segment in that market.
The upgraded GT13E2 turbine now offers over 200 MW of power, an additional 10% compared to the earlier rating. The higher output is offered at an increased efficiency of 38% - the best in this segment of gas turbines.
Every major area of the engine’s performance has been enhanced in this upgrade. It has been designed by using compressor technology from the company's advanced class gas turbines, a development that allows it to deliver the additional output. The engine also offers enhanced environmental benefits by lowering carbon dioxide emissions and lowering water consumption by as much as 60% when burning oil.
Announcing the launch of this upgraded engine, Mark Coxon, senior vice president of Alstom’s gas business unit commented “Alstom has introduced a number of improvements across its gas turbine range over the last year, reflecting our commitment to continue building on our gas-fired generation product portfolio to take advantage of the growing interest in natural gas as a clean fuel for power generation."
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts in its recently released World Energy Outlook 2011 that natural gas–fired generation will grow from 4300 TWh in 2009 to a little over 7900 TWh in 2035 under the New Policies Scenario, with much of that growth occurring in China (one-fifth), the Middle East (one-fifth), and India (one-tenth). Combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) will remain the dominant gas-fired generation technology (over 60% of growth in gas-fired generation will be produced by CCGT plants), but use of simple-cycle gas turbines is also forecast to more than double.
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