GE Mena Decarbonisation Centre of Excellence (COE) opens in Dammam
The organisation also announced a raft of MoUs focused on collaborative research and development and said 60% of its workforce at the Gemtec campus consists of Saudi nationals
The GE Mena Decarbonisation Centre of Excellence (COE) in Dammam is now open, GE Gas Power has said. The centre has announced key deals and initiatives that support critical goals under Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s Net Zero 2060 strategy.
According to a statement, the MoUs announced are with Saudi Aramco, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Dussur, besides securing an order from Samsung C&T for gas turbines, while GE hosted the exclusive ‘Powering Saudi Arabia Forward’ event at the GE Manufacturing & Technology Centre (Gemtec) campus in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The event celebrated several milestone achievements, including the inauguration of the GE Mena Decarbonisation COE by Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman, the Saudi Minister of Energy; a celebration of over 10 years of operations at Gemtec, and more than five years at GE Saudi Advanced Turbines (Gesat), a Dussur-GE joint venture; and the announcement of several MoUs.
“Saudi Arabia has a bold, transformative vision to drive progress, innovation, and sustainability. A little over a decade ago, we were excited to break ground on the Gemtec campus, with the goal of supporting the country’s growth ambitions. Today, we are delighted that GE is truly contributing to advancing the wider power sector ecosystem in the Kingdom through on-the-ground manufacturing and servicing capabilities, talent development, strengthening and training of local suppliers, and homegrown innovation from the Gemtec campus,” said Joseph Anis, President & CEO of GE Gas Power Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
He added, “The launch of the GE MENA Decarbonisation Centre of Excellence and the other initiatives announced show the commitment of our hardworking teams to continue building upon our past contributions. We are collaborating with customers and partners in the Kingdom to not only support the acceleration of the country’s own transition to a more reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy future, but to also create and supply power solutions from Saudi Arabia to the world.”
The first MoU announced was with Aramco to develop a decarbonisation roadmap that identifies possible solutions to reduce carbon emissions from the operations of Aramco’s fleet of power generation assets. As per the terms of the agreement, the two organisations will collaborate in the field of advanced carbon capture solutions, including both existing and optimised solvent technology, as well as future technologies.
In addition, both parties will explore the utilisation of hydrogen as a primary fuel for the installed gas turbine fleet and conduct joint research on the use of ammonia as a power generation fuel. Furthermore, they will explore opportunities for new joint research and development (R&D) programmes at the GE Mena Decarbonisation COE in Dammam and other GE R&D facilities around the world, the statement said.
In addition, the SEC and GE announced an MoU to develop a decarbonisation roadmap to explore pathways to the reduction of carbon emissions from the operations of SEC’s fleet of gas turbines. Under the MoU, the two organisations will explore hydrogen-fueled power production, carbon capture solutions, and R&D initiatives to potentially reduce carbon emissions from power generation.
GE said it has also entered into an R&D collaboration with SEC. The research agreement relates to sand ingress early detection and monitoring systems to potentially ensure higher reliability and availability of gas turbines and prevent catastrophic failures in desert and dusty environments.
The MoU with Dussur will seek to expand capabilities at GE Saudi Advanced Turbines (Gesat). Dussur and GE intend to develop a roadmap to enhance the capabilities of Gesat to provide heavy duty gas turbine products and services for future gas power projects in Saudi Arabia. The MoU intends to facilitate further transfer of knowledge and capabilities within Gesat, increase the localisation of products and services, and add value through meaningful job creation within the Kingdom, GE said.
Finally, Samsung C&T awarded GE and Gesat an order for three 7F.05 gas turbines for the Cogeneration Plant and Desalination Plant at Tanajib Project. Samsung C&T is the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the project. The facility is expected to generate up to 940MW of power, 1,084 tonnes per hour of steam, and 23,856cu/m of desalinated water per day once complete, contributing significantly to further strengthening the Kingdom’s energy and water security.
GE’s investment in the Gemtec campus is said to reflect its legacy of strong contributions and long-term commitment to the country. The facility houses a Service and Repairs Centre for gas turbines; a Monitoring & Diagnostics Centre for the remote monitoring of power generation assets; the GE Mena Decarbonisation COE; as well as GE Saudi Advanced Turbines (Gesat), which is equipped to manufacture heavy duty gas turbines and components and furthers industrial localisation efforts in the kingdom.
GE said it has also invested considerable efforts in developing both talent and its supply chain in Saudi Arabia. Today, more than 60% of its workforce at the Gemtec campus consists of Saudi nationals and the company has worked with hundreds of local suppliers, the firm concluded.
