Qatalum has signed an agreement with GE to provide five Advanced Gas Path (AGP) upgrade units, maintenance services for a period of 15 years for equipment at its 1,080 megawatts (MW) power plant, and a suite of cybersecurity solutions
Four of the AGP upgrades will be installed on 9F gas turbines at Qatalum?s power plant, and one unit will be kept as a spare.
This is the first time that the innovative AGP solution will be deployed in Qatar. It is expected to help Qatalum enhance its power output by up to 96.7 megawatts (MW) with improved plant efficiency; increase the availability of its gas turbines and lower operational expenses by increasing the interval between their planned maintenance cycles from 24,000 factored fired hours (FFH) to up to 32,000 FFH; and to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions for the same level of power output by up to 67,000 tonnes annually - the equivalent of taking up to 14,000 cars off Qatar?s roads.
Located in Mesaieed Industrial City, approximately 40km south of Doha, Qatalum is the only aluminium smelter in Qatar. It produces more than 600,000 tonnes of high-quality primary aluminium products per annum that are used in the automotive, construction, consumer goods, and other industries and exported worldwide. Enhancing the sustainability of their operations to foster economic development, while protecting the environment, is a top organisational priority at Qatalum and an important goal under Qatar National Vision 2030.
Khalid Mohamed Laram, Qatalum?s CEO, said, ?At Qatalum, we continuously explore solutions to improve productivity and reduce the environmental impact of our activities as part of our efforts towards becoming a green aluminium producer. The electricity generated at our power plant is a critical input for our manufacturing processes and GE?s AGP upgrade is an excellent fit for our needs, enabling us to boost fuel efficiency and output, increase the duration between planned maintenance cycles, and to reduce costs, as well as carbon dioxide emissions, per megawatt of power generated.?
Under the 15-year service agreement, GE will provide maintenance works for four 9F gas turbines, four generators, and other equipment at Qatalum. The agreement is a continuation of maintenance services that GE had already been providing at the site since it was set up in 2010. Furthermore, GE will also provide a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity solutions to Qatalum for a period of five years to address external and internal risks, including application and network security, data protection, change management, incident handling and response, data privacy, identity management, and more.
