Alstoms GT13E2 gas turbine reaches 10 million equivalent operating hours

Alstoms GT13E2 gas turbine fleet has reached a major milestone of clocking 10 million equivalent operating hours (EOH) at the end of March 2011. More than 310 major hot gas path inspections have been successfully performed on this fleet, till date.

With 143 units installed or ordered, the GT13E2 gas turbine is a very successful product in the market and is one of the largest Alstom fleets installed. The fleet recorded a reliability factor of 99.5% and a mean availabity factor of 94.1% at the end of 2010. These high performance levels were combined with a very high service factor of more than 87%, surpassing the E class engine averages*. In March this year, one gas turbine unit installed at the Al Hidd power plant in Bahrain set a new record in the fleet with 421 days of continuous operation, demonstrating the maturity and the high reliability of the GT13E2 platform.

Launched in 1993 with an original output rating of 165 MW, the engine continues to be at the cutting edge of technology thanks to constant evolution. The introduced upgrades offer superior operational flexibility by allowing a operator to switch between a maximum performance optimised mode, providing an output of 184.5 MW and net efficiency in simple cycle of 37.8%, and a lifetime optimised mode leading to maintenance intervals of 36000 EOH.

Commenting on the developments, Hans-Peter Meer, Senior Vice President, Alstom Thermal Services said, At Alstom, we have a policy of supporting our customers over the full lifecycle of a product. Therefore we continuously build in latest technology into our existing fleets in order to improve the performance of the products and to offer higher operational flexibility to our customers. Through the various upgrades, the GT13E2 installed base has become a very mature and high performance turbine platform with applications supporting a wide range of customer needs. We are fully committed and have teams working on further enhancing the GT13E2 platform to ensure the competiveness of the installed base and to maintain Alstoms leadership in this class of engines.

The GT13E2 platform is designed for a wide range of applications. It can operate as a stand-alone turbine in a new or existing power plant design or as part of a turnkey power plant. Applications cover electrical power generation in base load, intermediate or peak duty. It can also be used in industrial applications such as aluminium smelters or desalination plants.

^{*Source-ORAP Fourth Quarter 2010. E Class Technology Service Factor- 77%}

Press Contacts:
Sapna Lalwani (Alstom Power) Tel. +41 56 55 63342 sapna.lalwani@power.alstom.com