GE Aviation

EVENDALE, OH - Four LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine-generators began commercial operation in late October 1996 at the 160-megawatt Ave Fenix power plant near the city of San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina. This project marks several milestones: It is the first application of the highly-efficient LM6000 in Argentina, and this is one of the first independent projects in Argentina that is a merchant power station.

"With a merchant plant, there is no power purchase agreement. Instead the facility must achieve a certain thermal efficiency in order for its power to be dispatched to the national grid," said Ron Pinder, regional director, Latin America market development of GE Marine & Industrial Engines (M&I). "That is why the LM6000, with its proven high efficiency and reliability, was selected for this unique application."

The LM6000s operate in simple-cycle mode and are fired by natural gas. The Ave Fenix project was developed by Charter Oak Energy, a division of Northeast Utilities, Hartford, CT, and Merrill International, Boston, MA. Charter Oak Energy is the largest equity holder in this project.

The LM6000s were manufactured by M&I at its Evendale, OH facility. The four units were packaged by Stewart & Stevenson International, Inc., Houston, TX. Stewart & Stevenson also was responsible for construction and installation services. Stewart & Stevenson Operations, Inc., the operations and maintenance subsidiary of the company, has a long-term O&M agreement for this plant.

This project brings the total to 10 LM6000s which are in or slated to be in operation in Latin America. Also, M&I has 90 LM2500s and LM5000s in various power generation, platform and pipeline compression applications throughout this region.

GE M&I is part of GE Aircraft Engines and is headquartered in Evendale. M&I is the world's largest designer, developer and manufacturer of aeroderivative gas turbines for a variety of power generation, gas compression and commercial and military marine propulsion applications.