GE Power and Marinus Energy have joitly announced a 25MW pilot project to capture Isopentane gas and use it as a fuel source for generating electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa
As developing countries embrace innovation to meet faster solutions to energy challenges, the Atuabo Waste to Power Independent Power Project will be the first TM2500 power plant in Sub-Saharan Africa to use Isopentane gas as a fuel source and will run on GE’s TM2500 gas turbines.
In the first phase, Atuabo will convert the Isopentane fuel into up to 25MW of power, generating enough electricity to supply power for more than 100,000 Ghanaian households. As additional gas is brought onshore, the plant is expected to add on additional gas generating units up to a capacity of 100MW.
Additional Isopentane fuel will eventually be stripped off an offshore gas supply and processed at Atuabo by the Ghana National Gas Company. The gas turbine will start on lean gas and transfer to the Isopentane mix over time, and the power plant is intended to operate at base load throughout its life.
“The TM2500 unit will provide speed to deployment and flexibility to support the immediate needs of our customer, Marinus Energy, and then seamlessly transition to deliver capacity over the long term as they expand their operations,” noted Leslie Nelson, CEO of GE’s gas power systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The Atuabo project will add yet another TM2500 gas turbine to the existing fleet of ten units in the country earlier deployed in 2016,” he said.
With more than 200 units deployed and five million operating hours of experience, GE’s TM2500 aims to bridge the power gap for short- and long-term energy planning, stabilise the grid or reach and power remote locations.
“The TM2500 mobile power plant can be relocated to other power plants during operation and maintenance outages or to remote areas. The TM2500 can also achieve full power approximately within 10 minutes making it ideal for providing a base-load bridge to permanent power installations or generating backup power for factories and industries,” the company explained.
“Not only is the Atuabo waste to power plant enabling our company to lead in innovative energy solutions in Ghana, but by using a fuel source which would otherwise have been flared as waste, we are further reducing emissions and costs,” said Fred Asamany, strategic advisor of Marinus Energy.
