GE to provide power modules to Abu Dhabi

GE Oil & Gas has received a contract to provide a turnkey turbomachinery solution to Petrofac Emirates for the Upper Zakum UZ750 field in Abu Dhabi, developed by ZADCO (Zakum Development Company).

The turbomachinery equipment will consist of six massive standalone, plug-and-play ‘modules’, which will be shipped intact from GE’s construction facility in Avenza, Italy, to an artificial island located 50 miles offshore Abu Dhabi. Each module will weigh over 1500 t and will be 44 m long, 20 m wide and 24 m high. These six ‘mega structures’ will serves as the housing in which a turbogenerator train is located, which will provide electric power to ZADCO’s oil production facilities, including pumps and gas compressors.

Australia’s Gorgon gas field
The advanced module design was most recently used during the construction of five massive systems developed for Australia’s Gorgon field, one of the largest and most complex gas fields in the world. Like those on the Gorgon site, these modules will be assembled, commissioned and tested ahead of shipment to the Emirates so that once they arrive on location they can be simply and quickly installed and ready for operation. The module design and enhanced testing reduces both the total footprint of operations and the amount of time between equipment delivery and startup of operation, minimizing execution risks at site.

The modules, which integrate core equipment with all relevant auxiliary systems in an engineered solution, are delivered to the customer fully connected and wired. These six power generation modules, in turn, each feature a 43MW GE 6B gas turbine and electric generators that are fully engineered, equipped, packaged and tested.

Complex energy challenges
CEO, Turbomachinery Solutions for GE, Rafael Santana, commented: “Whether it’s GE’s unique expertise in the development of these massive plug-and-play modules, our advanced LNG technologies or our work in subsea fields, GE is actively supporting some of the world’s largest natural gas projects. This latest contract marks a critically important achievement for our industrial modules Power Generation business by showcasing how advanced plug-and-play solutions are solving some of the world’s most complex energy challenges in remote locations. The new work also underscores our commitment to investing in our advanced Module Construction Yard located in Avenza, Italy—the same yard where the Gorgon modules were born and built.”

To support the ZADCO project, GE is expanding the Avenza yard by adding more assembly and testing capabilities. When this US$ 12 million investment is completed at the end of 2014, the GE Module Construction Yard will cover 140 000 m². The finished yard will have enough platform foundations to assemble 10 modules simultaneously.

The contract award is between GE and Petrofac Emirates, the EPC contractor selected by ZADCO for the Upper Zakum UZ750 field development in Abu Dhabi. ZADCO is an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company subsidiary in which ExxonMobil and Japan Oil Development Company also are shareholders.

Turnkey solutions
GE Turbomachinery Solutions Project Operations general manager, Davide Iannucci, commented: “Since 1985, we have designed, constructed and delivered more than 40 modules and pre-assembled units of various sizes to customers around the world. To accomplish this—and to create modular units of this large size—we have invested significant resources in the research, development and engineering of these solutions. The result is increased efficiency and reliability for our turnkey solutions, whether it’s for small projects or ones involving immense scale such as ZADCO’s.”

The assembly of the ZADCO modules in Italy will start at the end of 2014 and will be completed in approximately two and a half years. The modules will be shipped to Abu Dhabi in 2016.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/22012014/ge_to_provide_turnkey_turbomachinery_solution_374/