- Clarke Energy to Provide a Turnkey Solution with 10 of GE’s Jenbacher J624 Gas Engines for Territory Generation’s Owen Springs Power Station Upgrade to Provide More than 41 Megawatts of Electricity, Enough to Power the town of Alice Springs, and Will Help to Further Reduce Electricity Cost
- Projects are Part of an Electricity Cost-Reduction Drive, Spearheaded by the Northern Territory Government of Australia
One of GE’s J624 high efficiency gas engines
ALICE SPRINGS, AUSTRALIA—February 5, 2016—Clarke Energy and GE’s Distributed Power business (NYSE: GE) today announced that Clarke Energy, GE’s authorised distributor of Jenbacher gas engines, is supplying 10 of GE’s high-efficiency Jenbacher gas engines to Territory Generation for an upgrade at its existing Owen Springs power station facility as a key part of the Northern Territory Government of Australia’s AUD$75 million investment in Central Australia. Clarke Energy’s successful turnkey engineering procurement and construction (EPC) will supply and install GE’s high-efficiency Jenbacher gas engines. This project, which is supporting an electricity cost-reduction drive, will provide an electrical output of more than 41 megawatts (MW), more than enough to power the town of Alice Springs, which will in turn help to increase the reliability and efficiency of power supply and further reduce electricity cost.
The upgrade at the Owen Springs Power Station will expand the existing facility with 10 Jenbacher J624 gas reciprocating engines. Clarke Energy will execute a carefully planned program ensuring that integration of the works with the existing power station infrastructure is delivered safely and on time.
“GE’s proven, cost-effective gas engine technology is an excellent fit for Territory Generation’s needs in upgrading this facility,” said Greg Columbus, Main Board Director, Clarke Energy. “After a rigorous government tender process, we look forward to providing safe, on-time and on-cost project delivery for Territory Generation. In addition to the EPC on the project, we will also provide a long-term maintenance agreement for parts and service on the equipment.”
In 2014, the Northern Territory Parliament of Australia implemented key reforms within the government-owned power generation authority. An outcome of the reform process was greater contestability to reduce the historically high cost of electricity paid by the Northern Territorians. This new business environment is driving local power corporations to find ways of reducing the operating costs of their power generation assets by adopting more fuel-efficient and reliable technologies.
“To help meet the new government reforms for cost reduction, Territory Generation has invested in a major capital improvement project—upgrading our Owen Springs station facility,” said Tim Duignan, CEO, Territory Generation. “The high efficiency and reliability of GE’s Jenbacher gas engines combined with Clarke Energy’s vast EPC experience in the region were key reasons we chose them for this important project.”
The fundamental design of GE’s gas engines provides numerous benefits. These include increased operational efficiency, greater reliability, reduced maintenance costs and enhanced capability to operate on gases with lower calorific value or unusual composition such as coal seam and coal mine methane gas, biogas, landfill gas, flare gas, coke oven gas and syngas from gasification processes.
“GE’s Jenbacher J624 gas engines feature high electrical efficiency and are capable of providing seamless power delivery even when operating on varying fuel gas compositions such as those delivered to the Owen Springs Power station,” said Bart Simes, regional manager for GE’s Distributed Power business. “The low fuel consumption rates will help to mitigate the price of power and reduce carbon emissions in the Northern Territory”.
Territory Generation is the largest electricity producer in the Northern Territory, owning 582 MW of installed capacity and contracting an additional 40 MW from independent power producers for supply to its customers.
A map of Territory Generation’s power station locations showing site of Owen Springs (Source: Territory Generation Power Station Locations)
