Atlanta-based GE Energy has signed contracts worth about $20 million to upgrade and maintain gas turbines at a power plant in Mersin, Turkey. The GE Frame 9E Gas Turbines at the Mersin plant produce 125 megawatts of power each. GE will provide maintenance and outage services for a new GE Frame 9E Gas Turbine for 10 years and to upgrade an existing GE Frame 9E Gas Turbine at the plant, which will boost the output of the unit by 2.3 percent.
The plant, owned by Istanbul-based Camis Elektrik Uretim A.S., utilizes the two GE turbines to capture emissions from other gas-powered engines to produce steam, which can be used to generate more electricity. The new equipment and the upgrade will improve the performance and availability of the units, which will help reduce the cost of maintenance, fuel consumption and the risk of power shortage scenarios in the region, especially in peak periods.
Specifically, the upgrade of the older unit will include a combustion hardware extendor system that will increase maintenance intervals from 12,000 to 24,000 hours, advanced abradable coating, brush seals and control curve modification. The GE solution will enable Camis to be more competitive in its market through greater efficiency, improved capacity and reduced operational costs.