GE has announced that its 9HA.02 turbine “is now available” at more than 64% net efficiency in combined cycle, achieving an output of 826 MW in 1×1 configuration. This has been achieved largely due to “advances in additive manufacturing and combustion breakthroughs”, the company says.
Specifically, components have been additively-manufactured for the combustion system using metal 3D-printing to “unlock new geometries for better premixing of fuel and air, leading to greater efficiency”. The new combustion system has already been successfully tested at full-load and full-speed at GE’s test stand in Greenville, South Carolina.
GE says customers can order HA-based combined cycle power plants quoted at 64+% efficiency in 2018, compared to the previous quoted limit of 63.7% for 2017 orders. GE also says it remains on track to “achieve 65% efficiency by the early 2020s”.
