GE today announced it is nearly finished supplying Navigat Energy Pte Ltd. with 100 gas engines for on-site power projects throughout Southeast Asia. The 100 natural gas and ecomagination qualified biogas gas engines will be installed at various sites in Indonesia and Thailand and produce a total of 330 megawatts (MW) of more efficient, reliable on-site power to support economical growth of remote areas in Indonesia and Thailand.

Navigat, a leading integrated developer of distributed power projects in Southeast Asia, is GE’s authorized distributor of Jenbacher gas engines in Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. Under the frame agreement, GE supplied 70 natural-gas fueled engines for Navigat-owned independent power plant (IPP) projects in Indonesia and another 30 engines for palm oil biogas power projects in Thailand. The bulk order is one of two major gas engine supply and service contracts GE signed with Navigat Energy. The agreements were announced today during the launch of GE’s Distributed Power business, which was established to meet the world’s demand for smaller on-site power solutions.

The second contract is a 10-year material stream agreement (MSA) that calls for Navigat Group to provide comprehensive maintenance support for GE’s installed fleet of 100 Jenbacher J620 gas engines in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. The gas engines MSA is the largest of several between GE and Navigat since 2008 as GE continues to expand its distributed power presence in the region.

GE and Navigat also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for GE to supply Navigat with two Jenbacher J920 FleXtra natural gas-fueled engines. With the 9.5-MW J920 FleXtra engines, Navigat via Navigat’s power generation business unit MAXpower will be able to target larger IPP and peak energy projects in Indonesia. The higher electrical efficiency of the J920 FleXtra will help make such projects more economically viable and will strongly support to reduce carbon emissions.

In addition to the three Navigat Energy pacts, GE also highlighted a blueprint project in Myanmar that is being developed by another Navigat Group subsidiary, MAXpower (Thaketa) Co. Ltd. On February 17, 2014, Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), Myanmar’s state-owned electricity company, executed a power purchase agreement for the construction and operation of a 50-MW, gas-fired power plant in the Thaketa district of Myanmar’s largest populated city of Yangon. The 50-MW plant will be powered by 16 of GE’s high-efficiency gas engines.

“We are excited to support the launch of GE’s new Distributed Power business, building on years of collaboration on important gas engine projects to support Southeast Asia’s growing demand for cost-effective and envirmentially friendlier natural gas, biogas and other alternative energy solutions. Together we have delivered about 1,000 MW of distributed power capacity to the region,” said Willi Goldschmidt, CEO of Navigat Group.

Southeast Asia is an important growth area for GE as more countries in the region encourage the use of more efficient utility, municipal and industrial on-site power systems that are easier to finance, install and are more efficient and reliable than larger, centralized power plants. GE’s distributed power product portfolio includes Jenbacher and Waukesha gas engines, aeroderivative gas turbines and Clean Cycle waste heat recovery solutions with an output range of 100 kilowatts to 100 MW.

“As demonstrated by our major gas engine agreements with Navigat Group, we intend to be the distributed power technology supplier of choice throughout Southeast Asia and around the world as economic and environmental priorities drive the demand for on-site energy solutions,” said Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO of GE Power & Water’s Distributed Power business. “Navigat Group is a valued local partner in expanding our local sales and services presence throughout Southeast Asia.”

In October 2013, the International Energy Agency issued a report, Southeast Asia Energy Outlook, urging countries in the region to improve their energy efficiency to counter a rapid increase in energy consumption. The report projects Southeast Asia’s energy demand will increase by more than 80 percent by 2035. Currently the region’s per-capita energy use is still very low, in part because 134 million people, or more than one-fifth of the population, still lack access to electricity according to the report.