Egyptian LNG Upgrade Project To Mark Debut Of GE's Power Crystal Technology For Oil & Gas Industry

GE Oil & Gas is launching its innovative "Power Crystal" technology for an upgrade project that will increase the power output and performance of gas turbines at an LNG plant owned by the Egyptian Operating Company for Natural Gas Liquefaction Projects (Egyptian LNG).

Under an agreement valued at more than $60 million, GE will supply parts to upgrade 12 GE MS5002D gas turbines plus four spare modules at the LNG plant, located in Idku about 50 kilometers east of Alexandria, Egypt.

The GE Oil & Gas Power Crystal kits are based on single crystal technology originally developed by GE for aircraft engines and later adapted for use on GE's advanced, heavy duty gas turbines. The Egyptian LNG project marks the first use of the technology on power turbines for oil and gas applications.

The use of single crystal advanced alloys for high performance turbine blades enables turbine firing temperatures to be raised at least 40° F, which leads to a four percent increase in turbine power output with no increase of NOx emissions.

Power Crystal technology can enable longer mean time between maintenance inspections -- up to 72,000 hours between major inspections. Customers can gain up to 10 days of production over a full maintenance cycle.

Alternatively, customers can elect to apply Power Crystal for enhanced production capacity, increasing the firing temperature. This feature allows keeping power output increase independent from ambient temperature.

"This first application of our Power Crystal technology signals the beginning of a new era for advanced heavy duty turbine upgrades in the oil and gas industry," said Jeff Nagel, vice president - Global Services for GE Oil & Gas. "Our Power Crystal kits can be installed during major inspections without increasing downtime and with limited impact on the entire plant process, while delivering significant improvements in gas turbine production or availability."

Nagel added, "The development of Power Crystal technology demonstrates the tremendous power of GE businesses working together. Thanks to those synergies, and to the strong cooperation and support of Egyptian LNG in this milestone project, the oil and gas business is now able to take advantage of the benefits previously available only in the aviation and power generation industries.

"Egyptian LNG has invested in GE's gas turbines in both of its LNG trains in Idku, Egypt. Being the first to embark on such a project, we are looking forward to the opportunities for improvement made possible with the use of this new technology," said Adnan Abidin, CEO of Egyptian LNG. "This has been made possible as a result of the good business relationship that the two companies have developed over the years," he added.

Parts for phase I of the Egyptian LNG upgrade will be shipped in 2008, with shipments for phase II in 2010-2012.

One of the world's largest producers of LNG, Egyptian LNG is a joint venture of local shareholders including EGPC and EGAS, and foreign shareholders such as BG Group plc, PETRONAS and Gaz de France. Currently, two trains are running at the Idku plant, each with a capacity of 3.6 million tons per year.