BHEL, GE Vernova extend pact for manufacturing heavy-duty gas turbines

GE Vernova’s Gas Power business and state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) on Tuesday announced the continuation of their long-term cooperation with the fourth extension of the Technical Assistance and License Agreement including scope for the engineering and manufacturing of heavy-duty gas turbines in India

The signing of the agreement is an extension to the collaboration between the two power sector industrial companies that started in July 1986, GE Vernova said.

Through this agreement, GE Vernova’s Gas Power business will continue to strengthen BHEL’s capabilities to offer best-in-class gas turbine technology and help meet the power plant requirements of customers, it added.

So far, BHEL has supplied about 230 GE gas turbines to various oil refineries, process industries, and utilities in India and overseas. The above cooperation is also contributing towards reshaping India’s energy roadmap by promoting indigenous manufacturing capabilities, creating new job opportunities, and expanding the supply chain network.

As per the agreement, BHEL customers can now have access to GE’s advanced gas turbines that are capable of burning blends of hydrogen, methanol, syngas and other low BTU fuels, contributing further towards accelerating energy transition in India and region at large.

Additionally, GE and BHEL are providing comprehensive engineering, repairs and maintenance services to the gas power plant operators in the region.

These services are offered by BHEL-GE Gas Turbine Services (BGGTS), a 50:50 joint venture between GE and BHEL. Established in 1997 and located in Hyderabad, BGGTS is synergising advanced class gas turbine technology with local engineering capability.

Today, GE has more than 120 gas turbines supporting power generation with hydrogen blends and associated fuels around the world and the fleet has accumulated more than 8.5 million operating hours.

GE’s gas turbine portfolio, including the B and E-class, has the capability to burn hydrogen levels from 5 per cent (by volume) up to 100 per cent. This capability varies depending on the type of combustion system used.

At the same time, gas-based power can also provide a cleaner base load power as compared to coal-fired power generation, at the grid level, to the growing base of intermittent renewable energy in India.