OREANDA-NEWS. Berakas Power Company (BPC), Brunei’s national energy company, plans to install GE Oil & Gas’ (NYSE: GE) innovative ORegenTM waste-heat recovery systems to increase the output and efficiency of four GE LM2500 aeroderivative gas turbines at the Berakas Power Station, located outside the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan in the Sultanate of Brunei.

GE is supplying its ORegen system with consortium partner Boustead International Heaters (BIH), which will provide its heat exchanger components as part of the package. The project is designed to help meet Brunei’s growing power requirements and has been made possible by the Sultanate’s “Green Brunei” initiative to promote energy efficiency and develop cleaner energy projects.

BPC is installing GE’s ecomagination-qualified ORegen technology with government-owned power producer Berakas Power Management Company Sdn Bhd (BPMC), which operates the Berakas Power Station on behalf of BPC. The ORegen system will be connected to three of the LM2500 units, each of which generate up to 22 megawatts (MW). The fourth LM2500 turbine and one waste heat recovery unit will be kept on standby.

GE’s ORegen system utilizes a thermodynamic superheat cycle that recovers waste heat from gas turbines and converts it into 14 MW of extra net electricity without using fuel or water and does not produce additional CO2 or NOx emissions. The system also has minimal operational and maintenance requirements. The Brunei project is the first use of GE’s ORegen technology in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Our BPS Augmentation Project using GE’s ORegen and BIH’s joint solution provides us with a cost-effective way to increase our power plant’s output and enhances the long-term value of our investment in the power plant’s original gas turbines,” said the Permanent Secretary (Downstream & Power), Energy Department at the Prime Minister’s Office. “It is the right solution to help us increase our sustainability and efficiency.”

GE previously collaborated with BIH as suppliers for Alliance Pipeline’s Whitecourt compressor station in Alberta, Canada, the world’s first commercial application of ORegen technology. BIH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Boustead Singapore Limited, a global infrastructure-related engineering services and geo-spatial technology group.

The equipment for the Berakas project is scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2014 and commissioned in early 2015. The upgraded power plant is expected to start commercial operation in the first half of 2015. In addition to the equipment, GE also is providing site installation and training as well as a resident engineer to support BPMC for one year.

“Our ORegen project for BPMC illustrates how GE is working successfully to deploy a wide range of technologies and services to boost Brunei's energy efficiency in line with their strategic objectives,” said Visal Leng, GE Oil & Gas Regional General Manager for Asia Pacific.

Mr. Leng also highlights how “Our ORegen system generates power through the use of gases that would otherwise be wasted in the environment. We are delighted to support Brunei on their innovative approach to green energy in this way.”

The Brunei ORegen project also illustrates GE’s ongoing commitment to help the government address its long-term energy infrastructure priorities. In 2012, GE opened a corporate office in Brunei to oversee the company’s local operations and coordinate efforts to develop the local workforce.

GE has been a leading supplier of power generation and energy delivery technologies in Southeast Asia for more than 100 years, with a presence in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

GE’s ORegen technology is the largest Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) single unit available for gas turbine waste heat recovery. ORegen is applicable on any type of simple-cycle gas turbine and can generate electricity at lower gas turbine loads than a standard combined cycle system that utilizes water and steam to recover waste heat.

When compared to the same gas turbine operating in a combined-cycle system, a turbine equipped with GE’s ORegen system operating more than 8,500 hours a year generates additional electricity while avoiding the consumption of more than 11,000 cubic meters of water per year—equivalent to more than four Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The ORegen system is qualified under ecomagination, GE’s company-wide initiative. To earn ecomagination qualification, a product is evaluated for its ability to significantly and measurably improve the customer’s environmental and operating performance.