GE’s Schenectady unit bags 4 HA gas turbine orders

General Electric’s Schenectady-based Power&Water unit recently won 4 HA gas turbine 

orders during the third quarter of the year, the company said. 

The orders were in Pakistan, South Korea and in the U.S. 

In addition to the 4 HA orders, GE said it has a backlog of 20 of the high-efficiency gas turbines. GE also said that it expects its $9.5 billion purchase of Alstom, which will be rolled into Power&Water, to close within weeks. Alstom makes power plant and power generation equipment just like GE Power&Water.

The turbines are said to be extremely flexible, able to operate at less than 100 percent base load in order to complement renewable or other intermittent generative models. HA turbines can transition from zero to full power in ten minutes. When combined with steam turbines in a combined-cycle plant, they can be at full power in 30 minutes.

The HA turbines build on GE’s previous H-class technology, which was launched in 2003 and has now accumulated significant operating time. Unlike the previous H-class turbines which relied on steam cooling, the new HA turbines rely on air for temperature regulation.  

HA turbines are said to have the lowest heat rate and emissions. Much of this efficiency is due to the H-class’ firing temperature. Compared to E-class turbines which fire at 2000-3000 degrees, and to F-class turbines which fire at 2300-2600 degrees, H-class turbines fire at 2600-2900 degrees. 

The Power&Water segment did well during the quarter, reporting a 7 percent increase in profit on just a 1 percent increase in revenue. GE reported a 29 percent drop in earnings (at $2.5 billion) and a 1 percent drop in revenue during the quarter (at $31.7 billion).

The unit reported $6.9 billion in orders during the quarter, although orders and revenue for thermal products, which means steam and gas turbines, were down during the quarter.