OREANDA-NEWS. June 22, 2012. To support Gas Natural Fenosa’s (GNF) need for expanded operational flexibility to maintain high efficiency and low emissions at a lower output, GE (NYSE: GE) will provide the Spanish utility with advanced dry low NOx (DLN) 2.6plus combustion technology for a GE 9FA gas turbine operating at one of GNF’s combined-cycle power plants. GNF, a unit of Gas Natural SDG, S.A., approached GE to identify a solution that would enable the plant to continue operating in compliance with Spain’s current environment of reduced electricity demand.

When operational in the second quarter of 2014, the GNF turbine will lower NOx emissions; this capability will better position the plant to deliver power during off-peak periods, improve its dispatch response, consume less fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. DLN 2.6plus  technology leverages GE’s advanced OpFlex* solutions platform, which provides the flexibility to balance output, operational availability and emissions control to reduce operating costs.

The project is the first of its kind in Spain negotiated under a new GE contractual service agreement (CSA). GE’s CSAs are structured to provide customers with predictable maintenance costs, while ensuring high availability and a steady revenue flow from power plant operations. To date, GE has long-term service agreements in place at more than 700 sites worldwide.

“GE is committed to partnering with customers like GNF to find solutions for the changing markets they operate within,” said Dick Ayres, GE Power Generation Services (PGS) general manager South Europe. “The service agreement associated with this project also offers the opportunity to evaluate all of GNF’s operations, and recommend ways to improve them.”

“Our investment in GE’s DLN 2.6plus  technology gives us more flexibility and the ability to dispatch the plant better and more economically,” said Jesъs Sanjuбn Bertet, director of combined-cycle generation for GNF.

“In a market where flexibility and dispatch ability are critical operating factors, DLN 2.6plus  technology will allow GNF to quickly capitalize on opportunities to sell higher-priced power,” said Franck Oger, regional general manager of GE’s Thermal and PGS units.

GNF is a unit of Gas Natural SDG, S.A., one of the leading multinational companies in the gas and electricity sector. The company operates in more than 25 countries, has about 20 million customers and has more than 17 gigawatts of installed power. It is the largest integrated gas and electricity company in Spain and Latin America, leading the natural gas sales market in the Iberian Peninsula, and it is the biggest distributor of natural gas in Latin America. With a fleet of 11 LNG tankers, it is a company of reference for LNG/NG in the Atlantic and Mediterranean basins, where it operates 30 billion cubic meters of LNG.