The President of Kahramaa, Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari (centre), with President and CEO of GE Power, Russell Stokes (left), and Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim at the US Embassy in Qatar, Ryan Gliha during a signing ceremony in Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim Matra
DOHA: After saving 36 mmbtu gas worth QR360m last year, Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) announced yesterday to retrofit its power generating turbines that will further reduce its energy consumption.
Kahramaa and GE Power signed yesterday Principles of Cooperation (POC) under a ‘Power Efficiency and Fuel Savings Campaign’. POC will help Kahramaa to better utilise fuel supplies, reduce emissions to support the sustainable development goals of the country.
The idea behind POC is to retrofit old units for generating electricity-turbines to make it fuel (gas) efficient as it is a valuable resources and needed to be optimised, Abdul Aziz A Al Mahmoud, a Kahramaa official told The Peninsula on the sideline of the ceremony.
He said that Kahramaa adopted strategy to optimise the use of gas which provided adequate saving last year. “For example, we recorded seven percent growth in electricity and six percent water generation in 2017 compared to 2016 but no growth in gas consumption was observed due to efficiency policy that saved around 36 mmbtu gas which is approximately QR360m,” said Al Mahmoud.
He said that as per the contract, GE Power will retrofit adding new technology and features to old turbines that generate electricity to improve fuel efficiency.
The POC was signed by Eng Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, President of Kahramaa, and Russell Stokes, President & CEO of GE Power. The signing ceremony was attended by Ryan Gliha, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the US Embassy in Doha.
“GE will help us advance these efforts further with their solutions and on-the-ground knowledge. Our cooperation will help better utilise fuel supplies, and reduce emissions to support sustainable development,” said President of Kahramaa.
Under the POC, Kahramaa and GE will cooperate to explore ways to drive higher efficiency, flexibility and fuel savings across Qatar’s power sector by utilising the latest technologies in the power generation sector, enhancing the performance of existing assets, as well as supporting Kahramaa in their future plans, he added.
Ryan Gliha said, “Today’s signing helps laying the foundation for the transfer of GE’s advanced technology to support the strengthening of Qatar’s power sector, to the benefit of both industry and citizens”.
“By enabling the supply of best in class technology and the modernisation of existing power plants, today’s POC will help Kahramaa to better utilie fuel supplies, reduce emissions and improve asset management, transforming Qatar’s power sector to support the sustainable development goals of the country,” said President & CEO of GE Power, Russell Stokes.
