France Fires Up World's Most Efficient Gas-Fired Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A new combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in France has been heralded as the most efficient CCGT plant in the world.

The newly inaugurated plant in Bouchain is the first based on the 9HA.01 turbine from General Electric (GE) (NYSE: GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) and, with an efficiency rating of 62.22%, has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the most efficient power plant. Built for Électricité de France S.A. (EPA:EDF) (Paris, France), the Bouchain plant has a generating capacity of more than 605 megawatts (MW), enough to power more than 680,000 homes. The plant is located on the site of the coal-fired Bocuhain plant, which stopped generating power last year. France is rapidly moving away from coal-fired power, which supplies less than 2% of its total power. Last year alone, seven units totalling 1,758 MW of capacity, were shut down as new air pollution regulations came into force.

"Today we are making history with this power plant for the future," said Steve Bolze, president and chief executive officer of GE Power. "We are thrilled to be acknowledged by Guinness World Records for powering the world's most efficient combined-cycle power plant."

Jean-Bernard Lévy, chief executive officer of EDF, added: "By commissioning this new generation thermal plant, EDF demonstrates its intent to apply the best available technologies on the market to make its French thermal power plants more energy efficient while supporting the energy transition. This also confirms EDF's innovation pledge under the CAP 2030 program."

The project partners pointed to the flexibility of the 9HA, which is capable of reaching full power in less than 30 minutes. They claimed that Bouchain's speed of response boosts the grid security of supply and makes it well-suited to backing up the growing development of renewable energy. EDF noted that its CO2 emissions are reduced by approximately 55% compared to a standard thermal power plant, while GE claimed the plant will support the historic Paris COP21 climate and energy agreement, where 195 countries pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and committed to rolling out cleaner power solutions. For additional information, see December 15, 2015, article - United Nations: Paris Climate Talks Are a 'Monumental Triumph'.

The first 9HA gas turbine was produced in GE's Belfort Gas Turbine Center of Excellence in France last year, before being shipped to the U.S. for testing. The company said that the HA series can save 6.4 million cubic meters of natural gas each year compared to using F-class technology. Fuel costs can be reduced by €1.8 million, ($2 million) at a natural gas price of €7 ($8) per gigajoule.

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