GE turbines go to Brazil for $100 million
22 May 2001
Termogaucha-Usina Termeletrica S/A, a special purpose project company (SPC) based in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, has awarded a contract of more than US$100 million to General Electric International (GEII) to supply equipment and associated services for a new, 500-megawatt power plant in southern Brazil.
To be located in South Petrochemical Complex - Triunfo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, the combined-cycle power plant will be an anchor for the development of a new pipeline that will transport natural gas from the border of Argentina in Uruguaiana into the Porto Alegre region.
Termogaucha is a consortium including CEEE, a regional Brazilian utility; and three oil and gas companies: Companhia Brasileira de Petroleo Ipiranga S/A, Petroleo Brasileira S/A Petrobras and Repsol YPF Brasil S/A. The three oil and gas companies also are among the partners in the pipeline, which will supply natural gas to the new power station.
Installation, commissioning and testing of the Termogaucha power plant will be completed in the third quarter of 2003. From September of 2003 to January of 2004, the plant may sell power on the spot market. Base-load commercial operation will begin in early 2004.
GEII is supplying two PG7241FA gas turbine-generators and one GE steam turbine for the new power plant. The GEII contract also includes technical advisory services and training.
The two gas turbines will be manufactured in GE Power Systems' Greenville, SC gas turbine plant and shipped to Brazil in the autumn of 2002. The steam turbine will be provided by Hitachi of Japan, a GE business associate, and will be shipped in late summer 2002.
The generators for the gas turbines will be supplied by Mitsubishi Electric Company of Japan. The generator and the balance of the equipment for the steam turbine will be manufactured in GE's Schenectady, NY plant and shipped in the autumn of 2002.
Overall, GEII has commitments for approximately 60 industrial and aeroderivative gas turbine-generators, to be shipped to Brazil by the end of 2003.
