The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and GE Power (NYSE: GE) have signed two technical agreements to promote scientific research and development (R&D) for the power sector in the Kingdom. The collaborations will identify innovative solutions to develop and install new systems that will boost gas turbine efficiency and productivity. The research will also focus on reducing the amount of ash that results from fuel combustion.
Eng. Khalid Al-Rashed, Executive Vice President of Engineering and Projects, SEC, said, “The first agreement aims to promote research that will help reduce the cost of power generation and power plant maintenance. The second will focus on installing a new system of fuel additives in gas turbines to reduce the water-washing cycle and increase capacity by reducing the amount of ash that results from fuel consumption during the power generation process. The agreements highlight our commitment to leverage advanced technologies to reduce costs and dependence on oil resources, and to meet environmental standards.”
The two agreements are part of SEC’s ongoing collaboration with GE to promote R&D in the power generation sector. It underlines the commitment of both companies to drive a culture of localized innovation and to identify cutting-edge solutions that will help boost the efficiency of the Kingdom’s power infrastructure.
“We have a long-term relationship with SEC, and we are committed to further strengthening it through these technical collaboration agreements,” said Hisham Albahkali, President & CEO, GE Saudi Arabia & Bahrain. “The focus on localized R&D to enhance the efficiency and productivity of the power sector supports the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.”
“The new agreements underline our commitment to co-create localized solutions that will support the Kingdom’s power infrastructure,” added Eissa Aqeeli, President & CEO of GE’s Power Services business in Saudi Arabia. “We are confident the collaborations will lead to innovative solutions that will benefit SEC and the Kingdom – not only through greater optimization in resource use but also by nurturing the skills of Saudi professionals in energy-sector research.”
GE and SEC have long supported the development of Saudi Arabia’s power generation sector by bringing industry-leading innovations to the country. In 2016, GE and SEC inaugurated the Saudi PowerGen Efficiency Center (SPEC) for gas and steam turbines, which is operated by SEC across its power plants. SPEC is part of the GE Manufacturing and Technology Center (GEMTEC) in Dammam, and is led by a joint team of SEC and GE engineers, serving as a real-time monitoring hub that is linked to more than 500 power generation trains in the Kingdom. SEC has also established a Generation & Optimization Center (GOC) equipped with GE’s digital solutions to monitor, analyze and enhance the reliability and efficiency of 16 power plants, which together represent more than 70 percent of SEC’s total power generation.
GE supports the generation of more than half of the Kingdom’s power supply and has over 500 gas turbines installed in the Kingdom. With a presence of over 80 years, three offices and seven facilities, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest GE workforce in the Middle East with over 2,000 employees driving the Aviation, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Power and Transportation businesses.