S&S Energy Ships GE LM6000 Generators For Summer '99 Peaking
S&S Energy Products (SSEP) announced that three GE LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine-generator sets have been shipped to customers in South Carolina and Georgia. The three gas turbines will help satisfy peak electric demand during the summer of 1999, SSEP reported last week at Power-Gen Europe '99.
"These three projects were undertaken to help customers avoid power shortages similar to those experienced during the unusually hot summer of 1998," said Lee Johnson, general manager of North America Sales for S&S Energy Products. "In fact, two of the LM6000s are equipped with GE's new SPRINT spray intercooling technology to deliver additional power during the heat of the summer," Johnson added.
Two LM6000 SPRINT generator sets will be used for peaking service at the SOWEGA power plant in Mitchell County, GA. Ownership of the SOWEGA plant is shared 50/50 by Grady Electric Membership Corporation, Cairo, GA and Three Notch Electric Membership Corporation, Donaldsonville, GA. Using the unique SPRINT technology to boost power output, each LM6000 generator set can produce up to 47 megawatts at ISO conditions.
The third LM6000 generator set was purchased by the investor-owned utility, South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G), Columbia, SC. The gas turbine will produce 44 megawatts at site conditions at SCE&G's Urquhart Station at Beech Island, SC.
The LM6000 gas turbines were manufactured by GE Industrial AeroDerivative Gas Turbines in Evendale, OH. SSEP verified power output and heat rate of each LM6000 gas turbine-generator set at its Houston manufacturing facility prior to shipment to the customer sites. The LM6000 was introduced in 1990, and the first LM6000 generator set was placed into service in 1992. More than 80% of the first 100 units sold were for base load applications.
However, as deregulation of the power markets has increased customer interest in peaking and dispatch, many LM6000s are now being used for projects requiring 1000 to 4000 operating hours per year with frequent starts and stops. The SSEP LM6000 generator set is capable of producing full power output in less than 10 minutes from a cold start. More than 200 LM6000 packages are now in service or on order.