GE announced the successful rehabilitation of three 9E.03 gas turbines at three Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) power plants in Calabar and Sapele, Nigeria.

According to a company statement, these operations reduced the risk of unplanned downtime of its power generation equipment, enabling the plants to reliably secure and restore the supply of up to 360MW of electricity to the national grid.

This was achieved despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, GE noted that the company’s team worked with NDPHC to swiftly implement safety procedures to ensure safe and on-time execution.

“Being Nigeria’s largest electricity generating company, with a total installed capacity of 4.0GW, representing about 35% of Nigeria’s generating capacity, we are committed to strengthening Nigeria’s power sector, despite the unexpected logistical challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Chiedu Ugbo, NDPHC’s managing director.

Ugbo added: “GE’s efficiency to mobilise local teams on-site with the required technical skills and expertise, as well as GE’s global supply chain scale was crucial to ensure the timely and safe completion of the outages at the sites and help us achieve our goal.”

The outages involved stage three bucket changeouts on three 9E gas turbines as well as additional combustion inspections, the company stated.

Engineers from GE and its field services execution company, FieldCore, worked together and in close collaboration with NDPHC to implement additional safety measures and reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19, including frequent disinfections at the site, physical distancing, standard passive and active temperature screenings for personnel, and the use of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves.

“We are committed to supporting power plant operators like NDPHC to be able to provide reliable power with exceptional support and services from GE throughout these uncertain times while ensuring and maintaining the health and safety of our employees and suppliers,” said Elisee Sezan, CEO for GE’s Gas Power business in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The successful rehabilitation of the power generation assets at Calabar and Sapele plants will help increase the 9E gas turbines’ efficiency, while lowering emissions and providing essential power for industrialisation, healthcare facilities, homes, schools and businesses,” Sezan concluded.