GE on January 14 announced the shipment of its 1,000th LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine to Black Hills Corporation as part of its Pueblo Airport Generation Station being constructed in Pueblo, Colo. GE’s 1,000 LM6000 gas turbines produced to date have accumulated 21.8 million operating hours for 260 customers in 43 countries on six different continents, including in 37 of the 50 United States.
“GE’s innovative LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbines will allow us to provide the best service possible to our customers,” said Mark Lux, vice president and general manager, Power Delivery, Black Hills Corporation. “We have a long history with GE and are excited to help them mark this important milestone and celebrate their history of providing solutions that help increase productivity and efficiency.”
Of the 1,000 LM6000 gas turbines produced by GE, 748 have single annular combustors and 252 have dry low emissions combustors. The customer with the largest fleet is Petrobras with 42 units, and GDF Suez Group has the largest DLE fleet installed with 28 units.
“From the time the first unit began commercial operation in 1992 at the Ottawa Health Services facility to the shipment of the 1,000th unit, our LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine has become the only gas turbine in the world with simple-cycle efficiency greater than 40 percent and dry low emissions combustion technology that guarantees less than 15ppm NOx,,” said Darryl Wilson, vice president of aeroderivative gas turbines for GE Power & Water. “This latest milestone exemplifies GE’s commitment to providing innovative technology that aims to meet environmental challenges throughout the world and helps our customers be successful and productive.”
Other facts about the LM6000 that make this milestone significant include:
Black Hills Corporation is scheduled to set its four LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbines from GE on their foundation in February 2011. The generation facility is expected to be in service by January 1, 2012.
The Pueblo Airport Generation Station will consist of four units: two Black Hills Energy – Colorado Electric utility-owned, natural gas-fired GE LMS100 units and two Black Hills Colorado IPP-owned, high-efficiency, combined-cycle units. Each of the combined-cycle units will consist of two 40-megawatt natural gas-fired GE LM6000 turbines and one 20-MW steam turbine.
The January 14 milestone announcement builds on GE’s announcement on October 7, 2010, that the LM6000-PG and LM6000-PH, the latest enhancements of the proven LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine product line, had both hit critical validation testing milestones. The LM6000-PG completed more than 160 hours of validation testing and exceeded performance expectations. The LM6000-PH, which is the dry low emissions equivalent of the PG, began first engine to test qualifications in late 2010. The new LM6000-PH engine package includes the latest advancements in dry low emissions (DLE 2.0) technology. In addition, the next-generation LM6000-PG with single annular combustor began package testing at GE’s manufacturing facility in Houston.