New CCGT in Bhola, Bangladesh, will be GE 6F.03 fleet leader

GE has been selected by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) to supply the power generation equipment for a planned 220 MW combined cycle power plant in the Bhola district of Bangladesh. This will be GE’s second power plant in Bhola of the same capacity, with the first being commissioned in 2015.

GE Power will supply a full “engineered equipment package” (EEP) for the project, including two 6F.03 gas turbines, two heat recovery steam generators, one steam turbine generator, condenser and associated control systems. Once completed, the new Bhola power plant will be the fleet leader for GE’s heavy duty 6F.03 gas turbine with advanced gas path, “delivering higher levels of efficiency, flexibility and reliability typically only seen in large capacity power plants”’ says GE.

The Bhola project is being developed as an independent power producer (IPP) project by the SP Group, which has signed a 22-year power purchase agreement with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). The power plant will have dual-fuel capability, using natural gas as the primary fuel and diesel as back-up and is expected to achieve commercial operation by December 2019.

“Bangladesh specifically provides an enabling policy framework to accelerate power generation capacity addition and the Bhola project is a testament of the government’s desire to achieve its ‘Power for All’ objective by 2020”, commented Deepesh Nanda, CEO of GE Gas Power Systems in South Asia.

Currently, GE has an installed base of more than 35 gas turbines in Bangladesh, with an installed capacity of more than 2.2 GWe.