Batam Centre harbor from a ferry to Singapore (Credit: Ibnuyahya http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Ibnuyahya)
Indonesian PT Medco Power has recently purchased two General Electric Frame 6B 3-series gas turbine-generators for the BE Batam Power Plant. Former member of OPEC, Indonesia is currently an oil-importing country due to aging oil fields, insufficient investment in oil production and growing internal demand. New gas-powered plant should reduce Batam island dependancy on oil, as a part of a larger transition to natural gas electricity generation.
GE shipped the equipment at the end of 2012 and the new facility is expected to begin commercial service in simple cycle in early 2014. The UBE Batam power project supports the regional government’s commitment to meet the island’s growing power needs with cleaner and more efficient power. The new plant boosts Medco Power’s power generation capacity for Batam Island by 20 percent, adding approximately 80 megawatts of power while enabling a switch from fuel oil to gas fuel, a cleaner and more cost-effective option. The plant will operate on natural gas supplied from West Natuna in Indonesia.
“Installing GE’s gas turbine technology at our UBE Batam Power Plant will enable us to use more of Indonesia’s cleaner domestic natural gas resources in place of oil to help strengthen the country’s energy security and economy while also reducing Batam’s emissions from power generation,” said Fazil E. Alfitri, president director of PT Medco Power Indonesia.
“GE’s Frame 6B 3-series gas turbine is one of the most reliable heavy-duty gas turbines in the world, with more than 1,200 installed and 60 million operating hours in a wide range of applications,” said Paul Browning, president and CEO Thermal Products, GE Power & Water. “This machine offers proven reliability and a lower cost of generating electricity compared to older, oil-fired steam turbine plants. Due to its fuel flexibility and ability to accept large transients, low cost per horsepower and high horsepower per square meter, the 6B 3-series gas turbine is an excellent fit for island grids like the Batam project.”
Since 1984, GE has shipped 33 6B 3-series gas turbines to Indonesia for industrial cogeneration, combined-cycle or peaking operations. The new project marks the second deal between GE and Medco Power; previously, GE provided a TM2500 gas turbine for another project on Batam Island. PT Medco Power Indonesia was founded in 2004 and is based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It operates as a subsidiary of PT Saratoga Power and PT Medco Energi Internasional tbk, a major operator in Indonesia’s oil and gas sector.
