GE Vernova, the power arm of the US giant, on 10 October announced the completion of the first phase of upgrades to gas-fired turbine units at Iraq’s 4.5GW Besmaya power plant owned by the Iraqi-Kurdish Mass Group conglomerate. The CCGT plant has been developed in three phases, with the Advanced Gas Path (AGP) program aimed at modernizing each phase’s four turbines. The AGP upgrade aims at improving operational flexibility, turbine availability and fuel consumption for each 288MW GE 9F.04 gas turbine.
GE says that upgrades for the first phase were delivered ahead of schedule, adding 6% to the plant’s overall output. The second phase is slated for 1Q25 completion, and the two firms have signed an eight-year service agreement to provide operations and maintenance for phase 3 turbines. The service contracts were signed in 2Q24, GE says. Besmaya’s phases 1 and 2 include eight gas turbines, four steam turbines and 12 generators, while phase 3 includes four turbines and four generators. In 2019, Mass received a 20-year PPA contract extension for its phase 3 expansion. In total, the firm owns 9GW of power capacity including Besmaya and plants in Iraqi Kurdistan. (CONTINUED - 186 WORDS)