GE highlights Digital & Fleet 360* total power plant capabilities

GE (NYSE: GE) is highlighting its Fleet 360* total power plant capabilities at the first Power Services Middle East & Africa (MEA) Summit held on November 28 in Bahrain. The event welcomed around 70 key customers from across the MEA region and discussed the challenges faced by the power industry, as well as the opportunities to strengthen the power sector’s productivity and efficiency through the digital industrial transformation.

“A reliable, efficient and stable power sector is the prime driver of economic growth and infrastructure development,” stated His Excellency Shaikh Nawaf Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Electricity and water Authority of Bahrain. “With the growth in population and demand from industry, ensuring reliable and sustainable power supply is the prime challenge for the MEA region. In Bahrain, we are focused on strengthening our infrastructure and promoting public and private partnerships to scale up power and water production facilities. The Power Services Middle East & Africa Summit by GE serves as a significant platform for all stakeholders to meet and discuss how the sector can become more efficient and productive by drawing on the latest technology and digital capabilities.”

Underlining GE’s long-term commitment to the region, the Summit showcased GE’s digital power plant solutions and its end-to-end technology capabilities post the acquisition of Alstom Power. Featuring in-depth discussions, the Summit highlighted how GE’s expanded portfolio of plant-level service capabilities can help unleash better performance, lower risk and extend the operational life of gas and steam plants.

“This is the first summit we are hosting in the MEA region to highlight the new Power Services and evolving challenges and opportunities in the power sector,” said Joe Anis, President & CEO of GE’s Power Services business in the Middle East & Africa. “To meet the growing demand for electricity, it is imperative that we look beyond traditional approaches to serve our customers’ changing needs. Today, with the enormous potential offered by digitization, the power sector can achieve unprecedented levels of productivity and efficiency. Digitization is the future of the power services sector, and through our enhanced Fleet 360* total plant capabilities, we will support our partners to transform their operations and achieve higher levels of reliability and efficiency across the power industry value chain.”

At the Summit, Joe Anis delivered a keynote address on ‘Bringing Digitization to the Middle East and Africa Power Services Sector.’ He said, “We estimate that just a 1 percent efficiency improvement could yield over US$60 billion in efficiency gains in the power industry over a 15-year period. Through Predix™ – GE’s cloud-based operating system for industry – we can enable developers working within any industry to create applications specific to their industry. The time to digitize and adopt Industrial Internet-based technologies is now.”

The Power Services MEA Summit served as a key enabler of knowledge sharing and networking by bringing partners together, fostering business collaboration and driving greater excellence in power sector delivery. A thought-provoking panel discussion on the power services sector featured HE Sheikh Nawaf Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Electricity & Water Authority; Tim Murray, CEO of Alba; Ray Wang, Author & CEO at Constellation Research; and Mike Cunningham, CEO, Al Dur Power & Water Company.

Speaking at the occasion, Tim Murray, CEO of Alba, said, “At Alba, we are not only seeking to diversify power sources but also to ensure that our plants operate at the highest standards of efficiency. We are proud to partner with GE on the expansion of Power Station 5, Line 6, a strategic effort to drive the operational efficiency of our smelting operations and boosting our competitiveness in the global market. GE’s Power Services Middle East & Africa Summit offered a strong platform to discuss challenges and opportunities in the sector and to identify advanced digital solutions that can transform the industry.”

Michael Rechsteiner, Vice President, Product Lines, Power Services; and Bhanu Shekhar, Chief Technology Officer, Power Services MEA, provided an overview of GE’s Fleet 360* total plant capabilities, which the business significantly enhanced through its acquisition of Alstom Power in November 2015.

Several breakout sessions were also held including one on Digital Solutions led by Dr Lana El Char, General Manager, Customer Success, Power Digital Services, MEA; a second on Flexibility Solutions, hosted by Gagan Porwal, Product Line Manager, Power Services, MEA; and a third on Efficiency Solutions, led by Otmane Benamar, Customer Application Engineering, Gas Power Systems, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT).

GE has been a technology partner to the Middle East and Africa for more than eight decades and has been an active partner for many power projects across the region. Nearly two-thirds of the power generated in the region is supported by GE’s technologies.