Supporting the Paris climate agreement with flexible gas power technology, French utility EDF has brought its first combined-cycle gas power plant (650 MW) that is driven by a GE-built HA turbine, into full commercial operation in Bouchain, France.
At the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015, 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal. It acknowledges the “need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible,” and raises the bar as it seeks to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5°C – well below the previous 2°C mark.
Renewable deployment is key to reaching this goal and flexible backup capacity needs to be ready to support this. GE says the HA gas turbine is capable of reaching full power in less than 30 minutes, which allows power plant operators to respond quickly to fluctuations in grid demand.
Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO of EDF pointed out when the Bouchain CCGT was commissioned on Friday that this new generation thermal plant demonstrated the utility’s intent to make French thermal power plants more energy efficient as the energy transition progresses throughout Europe. According to Lévy, the latest plant start-up “also confirms EDF’s innovation pledge under the CAP 2030 program.”
The high CCGT efficiency at Bouchain, for which GE was acknowledged by Guinness World Records, is underpinned by GE’s digital power plant solution, notably the digital control system. Real-time data use helps achieve more stable and efficient operations and gives valuable predictive insights for higher reliability and plant optimization.
GE’s optimisation software has also been installed at the Chivasso power plant in Northern Italy, operated by A2A Group. The plant was reopened in November last year, following hardware and software upgrades.