Powering the future of energy in the Middle East and Africa with GE

Billions of dollars have been invested in existing gas power plants around the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Plant owners and operators are always looking for ways to improve the operational performance of these assets. The right services provided at the right time can help keep gas turbines running reliably and efficiently over their entire lifespans, which typically extend to 20-30 years or even longer.

GE provided a comprehensive overview of services offered for gas turbines and other power generation equipment through its Jebel Ali Service Center and Monitoring & Diagnostics (M&D) Center in Dubai, UAE, to help keep powering the future of energy. The tour was led by Joseph Anis, President & CEO of GE Gas Power Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); Otmane Benamar, Acting Chief Technology Officer of GE Gas Power EMEA; and Kenneth Oyakhire, Services Leader of GE Gas Power Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

GE’s Jebel Ali Service Center

Completed in 2006, covering over 4,000 square meters, and representing an investment of over US$ 11 million, GE’s Jebel Ali Service Center houses two workshops – one each for gas turbines and generators. The facility offers advanced maintenance, testing, and repair solutions. Over the years, the Center has served more than 80 customers from over 35 countries from east to west, including Bangladesh, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Peru, and many others. The Center services equipment built by both GE and other Original Equipment Manufacturers (oOEM).

The only GE facility of its kind throughout MEA, it offers the advantage of delivering faster services at competitive costs to customers in the region and beyond, while operating to the same high-quality standards found at GE’s facilities globally. Led by a team of expert professionals, the site has global ISO 9001 quality, as well as ISO 14001 environment, health, and safety (EHS) certifications.

Joseph Anis said, “GE’s Jebel Ali Service Center offers a full breadth of offerings for the power sector to meet the increasing needs for reliable, efficient, and sustainable electricity for a growing population. Our core focus is on supporting our customers to ensure the seamless operations of their assets by providing swift maintenance and repair services distinguished by our commitment to quality, productivity, cost effectiveness, and EHS standards.”

The diverse breadth of repairs offerings at the Center cover gas turbines and generators. On-site services include blade replacement and repairs, machining repairs, generator rotor seal oil journal repairs, stator rewinds, and other core maintenance. It is also GE’s only high speed balancing facility and dynamic electrical testing center for rotors in MEA.

GE’s Dubai Monitoring & Diagnostics (M&D) Center

GE’s M&D Center in Dubai is one of its industry-leading power generation equipment monitoring facilities. The Center’s experts work with customers to increase uptime while reducing operations and maintenance expenses. Today, more than 950 power producing utilities use the M&D Center’s monitoring services for over 6,000 power plant assets around the world.

Every day, the Center receives over 1 million data points per second, coming from thousands of sensors attached to monitored assets. By providing a real-time view of asset data, the Center enables more effective, collaborative trouble-shooting with experts, enhancing the ability to forecast and prevent power outages through predictive maintenance alerts, and providing customized solutions.

“Our investment in the M&D Center is part of our continued efforts to drive the digital transformation of the power sector and leverage data and insights to support today’s dynamic energy market,” explains Anis. “It is critical to have asset visibility 24/7 and make data driven decisions so we can ultimately serve the community better by meeting their electricity needs more reliably.”

Supporting the Energy Transition with Reliable Gas Power Services

Globally, electricity and heat production account for up to 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions; moreover, there are still up to 770 million people in the world without reliable access to power and the demand for electricity continues to grow. Reducing carbon emissions from the power sector will play a critical role in addressing climate change. As we accelerate efforts to reach net zero carbon emissions ambitions, there can be no doubt that the world needs to invest at scale and with speed in new renewable energy projects. However, it’s also clear that these investments are not occurring fast enough. Renewable energy is expected to account for less than 50 percent of total global electricity supply in 2040. Moreover, the challenge on hand is not as simple as solving for sustainability – we must address the energy trilemma to achieve more reliable, affordable, and sustainable power, while energy demand continues to rise.

Gas can support the further growth of renewables by providing flexible, on demand, reliable power that has the lowest carbon emissions of traditional fossil fuel based electricity and help stabilize the grid as variable sources of solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources are brought online.

“As the world steps up efforts to address the climate challenge, renewable energy and gas power together, are positioned to play a leading role in accelerating the transition to a lower carbon energy future,” says Anis. “The high quality services GE offers at our Jebel Ali Service Center and Monitoring & Diagnostics Center, enable us to continue to collaborate with our customers to ensure that they can keep their gas power assets running reliably to support the energy transition in the years ahead.”

Updated: December 22, 2022, 3:41 AM