EVENDALE, OHIO - GE Marine Engines announced that a GE LM2500+ gas turbine plant powers Royal Caribbean International's Brilliance of the Seas cruise ship that recently made its maiden voyage.
The Brilliance of the Seas will sail in Europe, the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The 962-foot long ship has a passenger capacity of 2,100, is of 90,090 gross tonnage and has a cruising speed of 25 knots.
Currently there are a total of six cruise ships in operation that use a combined gas turbine and steam turbine integrated electric drive system (COGES) plant based on GE's LM2500+ gas turbines -- two Royal Caribbean ships, Brilliance of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas, and four Celebrity Cruises ships, Millennium, Infinity, Summit and Constellation.
The environmentally friendly COGES arrangement features two GE LM2500+ gas turbine-generators and one steam turbine-generator set. This 59-megawatt plant provides for both main ship propulsion and all onboard power generation. To date, the 12 LM2500+ gas turbines aboard the six ships have accumulated 75,000 hours in service.
The COGES plant is a very efficient use of energy. Energy that otherwise would be lost in the gas turbine exhaust is captured to produce steam for electric power generation and ship service steam use. The LM2500+ COGES ships operate on clean distillate fuel to significantly reduce emissions of most airborne pollutants and other particulates, as compared to a diesel power system operating on heavy fuel oil, which is customary for most cruise ships.
Other Cruise Projects
GE has delivered a total of 19 gas turbine-generator sets for 12 cruise ships; 17 driven by LM2500+ and two by LM2500 gas turbines. In addition, GE has a total of eight gas turbine-generators on order for cruise ship applications.
The following is a brief summary of other cruise ship projects that will use GE gas turbines. All of the gas turbine packages were sold and supplied by GE Aero Energy Products (GE AEP), a GE Power Systems business and a GE Marine Engines Marine Systems Supplier.
Cunard Line: The Queen Mary 2 will use two LM2500+ gas turbine-generators combined with four diesels. This transatlantic liner will be the world's largest passenger vessel upon completion in late 2003. GE AEP will deliver equipment to the shipyard during November of this year.
Carnival Corporation's Holland America: The first two LM2500 gas turbine-generator sets have been delivered to the shipyard and have been installed. These units, along with three other LM2500s, will be used for five new cruise ships. One LM2500 turbine-generator set, combined with five diesel generators, will be applied per ship.
Princess Cruises: Coral Princess, Island Princess, Diamond Princess, and Sapphire Princess will each use one LM2500+ gas turbine-generator set in conjunction with medium-speed diesel engine-driven alternators. The ships are scheduled to join the fleet in December 2002, May 2003, June 2003 and May 2004, respectively.
GE Marine Engines is part of GE Aircraft Engines and is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio. GE Marine Engines is the world's largest designer, developer and manufacturer of aeroderivative gas turbines for a variety of commercial and military marine propulsion applications. Visit GE Marine Engines online at www.geae.com