- GE Blends Hardware and Software Technologies to Improve Performance at Sorgenia Power S.p.A.'s Combined-Cycle Power Plant in Termoli, Italy
- Project Provides Greater Operational Visibility, Flexibility and Plant Reliability to Enhance Sorgenia's Existing Energy Infrastructure
- Project Aligned to Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development Principles Underpinning Sorgenia's Growth Both as a Producer and a Supplier of Electricity and Gas to End Users
BADEN, SWITZERLAND–March 11, 2019–As Italy repowers its energy sector and increases renewable energy production, gas power plants throughout the country are focused on increasing flexibility, reliability and efficiency to improve their competitiveness. Sorgenia Power S.p.A., one of the top Italian operators in the gas sector, turned to GE Power (NYSE: GE) to make its Termoli combined-cycle power plant more efficient, reliable and flexible and enhance its digital capabilities. Additionally, the company extended the existing multiyear agreement through 2031, ensuring GE will provide Sorgenia with key maintenance and services support to meet its long-term goals.
"In Italy's current energy landscape, combined-cycle power generation is being challenged due to the increasing share of renewables and in parallel, by the evolution of power markets that made the activities of sector operators more complex and intricate, particularly in the field of energy and risk management," said Claudio Moscardini, power generation and energy management director, Sorgenia Power S.p.A. "GE has maintained our Termoli gas turbines since the first firing in 2006. When we determined that our plant needed further upgrades, it was a natural and logical step to choose GE, as they have been a trusted and reliable part of our operations for many years."
Located in Termoli, on Italy's Adriatic coast, the power plant will use big data analytics to improve fleet performance and make smarter operational decisions. GE's digital solutions, including its innovative Predix* Asset Performance Management (APM), Operational Performance Excellence, Efficiency Optimizer, OpFlex* advanced controls and Mark* VIe solutions will help make the plant more competitive in this changing energy market. With these solutions, Sorgenia will strengthen its activities in energy trading and asset optimization to respond faster to a European energy framework marked by increasing liquidity and interconnection with the Italian market.
"With power production in Europe and in Italy becoming largely renewables driven, gas power generation will need to provide the necessary flexibility and efficiency to balance unpredictable renewables," said Michael Rechsteiner, CEO of GE's Power Services business in Europe. "We're excited to continue our relationship with Sorgenia as they make digital and hardware enhancements to reinvent how they operate their assets. With GE's solutions they'll be able to react more quickly to market conditions while reducing operating costs, and we will provide Sorgenia with key services to help them meet their long-term goals for the next 12 years."
In addition, GE will help increase efficiency up to 0.5 percent and improve plant reliability of the plant by installing a compressor package upgrade to withstand the significant increase of starts and stops connected with the demand evolution and continuous increase variability of renewable energy on the national grid.
This announcement builds on GE's commitment to power generation in Italy. For example, last week, GE announced that Italian utility A2A Group is continuing to modernize its power assets, deploying GE's services, hardware and software solutions at four of its facilities in Piemonte, Lombardia and Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy. In addition, last month it was announced that in alignment with the trend of decoupling steam production from power production in cogeneration applications in combined-cycle plants, Novel S.p.A. turned to GE Power to modernize its power station in Novara, Italy.
About Sorgenia
Sorgenia was founded in 1999 and today is the first Digital Energy Company in the Italian market. The commercial offer is developed only online and is focused on digital and innovative services, able to simplify the relation with energy.
About GE
GE (NYSE:GE) drives the world forward by tackling its biggest challenges: Energy, health, transportation–the essentials of modern life. By combining world-class engineering with software and analytics, GE helps the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely. For more than 125 years, GE has invented the future of industry, and today it leads new paradigms in additive manufacturing, materials science, and data analytics. GE people are global, diverse and dedicated, operating with the highest integrity and passion to fulfill GE's mission and deliver for our customers. www.ge.com
About GE Power
GE Power is a world energy leader providing equipment, solutions and services across the energy value chain from generation to consumption. Operating in more than 180 countries, our technology produces a third of the world's electricity, equips 90 percent of power transmission utilities worldwide, and our software manages more than forty percent of the world's energy. Through relentless innovation and continuous partnership with our customers, we are developing the energy technologies of the future and improving the power networks we depend on today. For more information please visit www.ge.com/power, and follow GE Power on Twitter and on LinkedIn.
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