OREANDA-NEWS. October 23, 2012. GE (NYSE: GE), one of the leading suppliers of technology to power the world, is highlighting its new FlexEfficiency 60 Portfolio at today’s opening of GE’s Energy Technology Center in Seoul. GE has specifically configured its natural gas-fired FlexEfficiency 60 technology to meet the growing efficiency and operating flexibility needs of 60-hertz countries around the world, including South Korea.

An increased demand for electric power generation to meet South Korea’s growth requirements is underscoring the need for efficient and reliable power generation. As the world’s largest manufacturer of both land-based gas turbines and jet engine gas turbines, GE is uniquely positioned to deploy flexible and efficient technology that will help meet the power needs of the region.

“The FlexEfficiency 60 Portfolio’s record-setting base load efficiency is combined with unparalleled flexibility to address the complex needs of today’s energy grid,” said John Reinker, general manager, Global Projects Operation, GE Power & Water. “In Korea, extracting the highest levels of efficiency is extremely important, and our FlexEfficiency products are designed to operate effectively in the combined heat and power applications used for district heating across South Korea.”

Reinker continued, “GE also provides the services and complete life-cycle value that our South Korean customers have come to expect. GE’s highly efficient natural gas power generation solution, such as FlexEfficiency 60 technology, coupled with our proven track record as a trusted services provider can deliver the power the region needs to grow and prosper.”

Recently introduced at a global launch event in San Francisco, Calif., the FlexEfficiency 60 Portfolio includes the new 7F 7-series gas turbine and the smaller 7F 5-series turbine, introduced in 2009, as well as an enhanced D-17 steam turbine, H26 hydrogen-cooled generator and Mark* VIe Integrated Control System (ICS) that can be configured into a total plant solution called the FlexEfficiency 60 Combined-Cycle Power Plant. The two 7F series gas turbine models span a range of 216-250 megawatts of simple cycle output, and 325 megawatts or more in a combined cycle configuration, enabling high combined cycle efficiency across a wide range of operating conditions.

GE also has announced more than USD 1.2 billion in orders for its first 19 FlexEfficiency 60 portfolio gas turbines, to be installed for projects in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

The new FlexEfficiency 60 Combined-Cycle Power Plant will offer greater base load efficiency and flexibility than previous gas turbine-based technologies. This plant will establish a new benchmark in natural gas base load efficiency—greater than 61 percent—but also will provide improved part-load efficiency. The 7F 7-series gas turbine in this portfolio is able to rapidly increase or decrease its power output in response to fluctuations in wind and solar power, enabling the integration of more renewable resources onto the power grid.

An ecomagination*-qualified product designed to take on the world’s toughest environmental challenges, the FlexEfficiency 60 Plant will avoid up to 56,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year relative to existing technology. If just 10 equivalent-sized coal plants were replaced with the FlexEfficiency 60 plant, the offset emissions would be 2.6 million metric tons per year.

* Trademark of General Electric Company