OREANDA-NEWS. November 06, 2012. GE (NYSE: GE) is showcasing the latest features for its Frame 6B heavy duty gas turbines, including easier installation and simplified maintenance, at POWER-GEN Africa 2012 in Johannesburg, November 6-8, 2012. Frame 6B gas turbines have brought reliable power to the people of Africa for the last 25 years with more than 90 of these machines installed across the continent, many in remote locations.

A 40-megawatt-class machine, GE’s Frame 6B gas turbine offers proven reliability, low emissions and a lower cost of generating electricity compared to older, oil-fired gas turbines. With the flexibility to use a range of gas or liquid fuels including heavy fuel oil and biofuels, this technology is an excellent fit for remote areas of Africa where natural gas is not yet available.

“In our continuous effort to help our customers provide more electricity to meet Africa’s needs, we recently introduced a simplified 6B layout for easier installation and a 6B gas turbine with the latest combustion system and turbine hot gas path for less maintenance,” said Franck Oger, general manager Thermal and Power Generation Services for Western Europe and sub-Saharan Africa at GE Power & Water. “With this simplification process, a 6B gas turbine for simple-cycle duty can be ready for first fire within approximately 10 months and can provide up to four years of continuous operation on various gases with no scheduled maintenance.”

New features for the Frame 6B include pre-installed packages for easier transport and reduced site installation time and simplified layout for ease of operation and maintenance. The latest technology provides 43 megawatts of output, single-digit NOx emissions, restart capability during blackouts and maintenance intervals of up to four years.

GE installed its first 6B gas turbine for Africa in Kenya in 1987, and today 12 African countries utilize this technology. The installed GE 6B fleet is producing 4 gigawatts of power in a wide range of industries including electric power generation, oil and gas processing, the mining industry, the petrochemical industry and oil and gas exploration and extraction. But the continent needs more power as industrial development continues, and more than 50 percent of Africa is rural with no access to electricity.

The GE 6B gas turbine is one of the most widely used gas turbines ever manufactured. More than 1,200 6B gas turbines have been sold since 1980, and more than 170 units have been installed since 2006.