GE Power, a business that provides innovative products and services to the power generation industry, has signed an estimated $ 100 million ($ 400 million) contract with construction company Techint to supply equipment for the Parnaíba V plant, in Maranhão.

“The agreement foresees the closure of the Parnaíba I Plant cycle, with the change of configuration from the single-cycle plant to the combined-cycle plant, constituting the Parnaíba V Plant, which will add 385MW to Eneva's thermoelectric generation capacity inland. from Maranhão. This is an energy efficiency project, as increasing capacity will not consume any additional gas molecules, ”says Rafael Coitinho, Eneva's engineering manager.

According to Daniel Meniuk, GE Power's Latin America leader, the closing cycle will improve the efficiency of the Parnaíba I plant by up to 58%. "The new configuration of the plant may also allow emissions reduction compared to the current model, thanks to the potential increase in efficiency in power generation," he says.

For the change in plant configuration, GE will supply a model STF-D600 steam turbine, four heat recovery boilers, a condenser and valves. Equipment delivery is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021 and installation is expected to be completed by September 2022.

“The project is extremely important for the country, as it increases plant efficiency by up to 20 percentage points. More thermoelectric plants are expected to be contracted in the coming years, following the growth of renewables, and natural gas represents the reliable source of energy to provide safety and stability to the grid, in parallel with intermittent sources, ”says Daniel Meniuk.

The expansion of UTE Parnaíba I strengthens GE's position in Brazil's largest private independent power project, with nearly 2 GW of installed natural gas generation capacity operating with seven GE class F gas turbines.

Eneva's Parnaíba Complex is one of the largest natural gas thermal power generation parks in the country, being the first reservoir-to-wire (R2W) venture. With 1.4 GW of installed capacity, the generation of the Complex represents 11% of Brazil's gas thermal generation capacity.