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 1x1 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”.