EDF Heralds 'Record-Breaking' CCGT
EDF and General Electric (GE) inaugurated June 17 the first-ever natural gas combined-cycle plant equipped with GE’s 9HA turbines.
The plant, in Bouchain, some 30 km south of Lille in northern France, can generate over 605 MW and it achieved an efficiency rate during commissioning performance tests of up to 62.22%. GE said the figure represents total efficiency, including some thermal efficiency along with primarily electrical efficiency.
GE and EDF said the record-breaking efficiency levels have made it the world’s most efficient combined-cycle power plant, which has now been officially recognised by the Guinness World Records. A further benefit is that the 9HA turbines can reach full power in less than 30 minutes.
Jean-Bernard Levy is EDF's chairman and CEO, chairman of Edison, and a director of Vinci and French bank Societe Generale (Photo credit: SocGen)
The June 17 inauguration was attended by EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Levy and his GE counterpart Steve Bolze. The two firms have co-operated for the past 45 years. Since the 1970s, GE has supplied EDF with close to 120 combustion turbines for its thermal power plants in France and worldwide. GE said that June 17 marked the "official beginning of operation and connection to the grid".
For Levy, the ceremony provided some respite from EDF’s woes.
In April, the state-owned nuclear power giant deferred until September a final investment decision for its planned £18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, a version of the Areva-designed 1.6-GW ‘EPR’ reactor that has caused massive budget and timing overruns at other EDF projects in France and Finland. EDF also said it would raise €4bn by selling new EDF shares to raise sufficient funds, with the government committing to buy €3bn of these. EDF also pledged to divest €10bn of assets in 2015-20. On April 25, the first day’s trading after these announcements, EDF shares fell by 11%. They have since gained only 2% in value.
Areva, having been bailed out by the government last year, is also struggling. On June 15, it announced a restructuring – with a plan to create a separate entity, NEW CO, through a partial contribution of Areva assets. The spinoff and rump company would require a proposed combined €5bn capital increase, which it said would require European Commission consent.
Mark Smedley | www.naturalgaseurope.com