GE’s US turbines head to Kuwait in $2.65B power deal

The government of Kuwait has just signed a deal with GE and Hyundai Heavy Industries for a $2.65 billion, 2,000-megawatt power plant in Sabiya, which is located in the northern part of the country. Under its share of the contract, totaling $1.3 billion, GE Energy will supply critical equipment — and it will operate and maintain the plant for seven years following the commercial start date. The deal will dramatically boost Kuwait’s power output — and it underscores the unique intersection of technology and services that GE brings to the booming region.

Southern exposure: GE Energy’s F-class gas turbine represents the world’s most experienced fleet of highly efficient gas turbines. GE’s Greenville, SC plant, seen above, is the largest gas turbine manufacturing plant in the world, with over 3,000 employees producing products for domestic and global export.

On the equipment side, GE will supply three combined-cycle power blocks, including six Frame 9FA gas turbines, which will be equipped with the latest emission reducing technology that will support Kuwait’s environmental needs, three steam turbines, nine generators and a turbine and plant level control protection system. The gas and steam turbines will be made at GE’s plants in the U.S.

Because Kuwait’s business and residential growth has strained the country’s power generation capability, power outages have been occurring during the hot summer months. As part of GE’s service deal to operate the plant, GE’s support team will also guarantee availability of power during the high-demand summer months. GE will also provide training for the Ministry of Electricity and Water employees to support Kuwait’s ongoing growth plans as the country projects that energy demand will grow at about 8 percent a year. Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea will be in charge of engineering, procurement and construction for the Sabiya plant.

GE will begin shipping equipment by the middle of 2010. The Sabiya power plant is scheduled to come on line in two phases. The first phase will add 1,300 MW of capacity to the Kuwait electricity grid in 2011, with the second phase adding the remaining 700 MW in 2012. Primary fuel will be natural gas, with distillate as a backup.

GE Energy, which has more than 1,000 turbines installed throughout the Middle East providing more than 70 gigawatts, has announced more than $8 billion in power generation projects in the region over the last two years. In June, GE announced contracts totalling more than $500 million to supply advanced power generation equipment and long-term services for a major water and power project in Bahrain. Additionally, GE has provided equipment for the world’s largest wastewater treatment plant located in Sulaibiya, which can purify more than 100 million gallons of wastewater each day for agricultural and industrial uses. GE supplied its advanced F-technology power generation equipment for the 800-megawatt Shuaiba North power project, and GE is providing fixed bed reactors for a new project planned by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company in Al Zour that will be the largest refinery in the Middle East.

* Read today’s announcement
* Read Reuters coverage of the deal
* Read “From Greenville to Bahrain: GE turbines in $500M deal” on GE Reports
* Lean more about our gas turbine technology
* Read “GE to supply $1B of gas turbines to Saudi Arabia”
* Read “Iraq awards GE $3 billion gas turbine contract”
* Watch a video about turbines being made in our Greenville, SC plant
* Watch a video about our partnerships in the Middle East