American energy giant General Electric (GE) last week announced that it has signed a framework agreement with Indonesia-based Navigat Energy Pte Ltd to supply the latter with 100 gas engines for its on-site power projects throughout Southeast Asia.
The 100 natural gas and “ecomagination” qualified biogas gas engines will be installed at various sites in Indonesia and Thailand and produce a total of 330 megawatts (MW) of, the companies said in a statement.
Navigat, a developer of distributed power projects in Southeast Asia, is GE’s authorised distributor of Jenbacher gas engines in Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
Under the deal, GE supplied 70 natural-gas fuelled engines for Navigat-owned independent power plant (IPP) projects in Indonesia and another 30 engines for palm oil biogas power projects in Thailand. The bulk order is one of two major gas engine supply and service contracts GE signed with Navigat Energy.
The agreements were announced during the launch of GE’s Distributed Power business, which was established in a bid to tap the demand for smaller on-site power solutions worldwide.
In addition to the three Navigat Energy pacts, GE also highlighted a blueprint project in Myanmar that is being developed by another Navigat Group subsidiary, MAXpower (Thaketa) Co Ltd. On February 7, Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), Myanmar’s state-owned electricity company, executed a power purchase agreement for the construction and operation of a 50-MW, gas-fired power plant in the Thaketa district of Myanmar’s largest populated city of Yangon. The 50-MW plant will be powered by 16 of GE’s high-efficiency gas engines.
“We are excited to support the launch of GE’s new Distributed Power business, building on years of collaboration on important gas engine projects to support Southeast Asia’s growing demand for … natural gas, biogas and other alternative energy solutions,” Willi Goldschmidt, CEO of Navigat Group.
“Together we have delivered about 1,000 MW of distributed power capacity to the region.”
The second contract is a 10-year material stream agreement (MSA) that calls for Navigat Group to provide comprehensive maintenance support for GE’s installed fleet of 100 Jenbacher J620 gas engines in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. GE and Navigat also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for GE to supply Navigat with two Jenbacher J920 FleXtra natural gas-fueled engines.
“As demonstrated by our major gas engine agreements with Navigat Group, we intend to be the distributed power technology supplier of choice throughout Southeast Asia and around the world as economic and environmental priorities drive the demand for on-site energy solutions,” said Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO of GE Power & Water’s Distributed Power business.
In October 2013, the International Energy Agency issued a report, Southeast Asia Energy Outlook, urging countries in the region to improve their energy efficiency to counter a rapid increase in energy consumption.
The report projects Southeast Asia’s energy demand will increase by more than 80 percent by 2035. Currently the region’s per-capita energy use is still very low, in part because 134 million people, or more than one-fifth of the population, still lack access to electricity according to the report.
