After 30 years, Penal Power Station’s gas turbines, rotors and other components were close to the end of their running life. To help avoid new maintenance costs, the Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (PowerGen Ltd.) needed to replace its two existing 7E turbines.
GE integrated two new 7E gas turbine units that run on natural gas for PowerGen Ltd. The turbines will potentially improve the heat rate of the plant by 2.25% as well as add 25 – 30 years of life to the site.
total plant capacity
increased output
years added to asset life
Replacing the existing gas turbines at the Penal Power Station with GE’s upgraded units will improve our generation efficiency and add value in terms of greater availability by establishing longer intervals between scheduled maintenance outages.
Fitzroy Harewood
General Manager, PowerGen Ltd.
Satisfied with decades of performance, PowerGen Ltd. chose new GE solutions rather than initiate costly, incremental repairs. During a planned outage, GE Power Services replaced two MS7001EA turbines and integrated two 7E models to the 236-MW plant on the nation island of Tobago.
Running on natural gas, these additions to the combined-cycle power plant provide an increase in energy efficiency—and output by 26 MW. Along with the gas turbines, the project with GE includes a 16-year maintenance agreement to supply spare parts and repairs.
Power plants in Latin America are more frequently looking to increase the reliability of their combined-cycle generating facilities to keep pace with new demands on utilities. This was the first flange-to-flange gas turbine replacement in the Latin America/Caribbean region for GE.
The new gas turbines improved the heat rate of the plant by 2.25%, adding some 30 years of life to the site and supplemental power to the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago.
