GE Vernova’s Gas Power business has secured a 25-year service agreement for West African Energy’s 300 MW combined cycle power project in Cap des Biches, Dakar, Senegal to help ensure the long-term availability and reliability of the power plant’s gas turbines to meet Senegal’s increasing energy demands.
The Cap des Biches power plant, which is the first gas-to-power project in Senegal, will be the biggest power plant in the country and is expected to generate more than 25% of the power consumed, providing the equivalent electricity needed to power up to 500,000 Senegalese homes. The plant is expected to begin operations in phases starting in 2024.
In addition to the service agreement, GE Vernova will also provide its Digital business’ Asset Performance Management (APM) software in the cloud to promote the use of predictive analytics across the power island (gas turbines and generators). The agreement was signed at a ceremony in Senegal attended by Mr. Samuel Sarr, CEO of West African Energy; and Mr. Papa Toby Gaye, the General Secretary of SENELEC.
The agreement will include the supply of parts, repairs, field services and advanced predictive maintenance for the two GE Vernova 9E.03 gas turbines and accessory equipment. “We awarded GE Vernova the service agreement because they have the technology expertise and proven gas turbine services track record to help make sure that our power plant operates at the highest levels of reliability,” said Samuel Sarr, CEO of West African Energy. “We expect that the services and digital technologies provided by the GE Vernova team will help us to increase efficiency and improve performance, which is crucial in powering Senegal reliably.”
GE Vernova was previously awarded the contract to supply two 9E.03 gas turbines, one STF-A200 steam turbine, three A39 generators, two Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSG) and additional balance of plant equipment as part of the project scope. GE Vernova’s service agreements are structured to provide predictable maintenance costs while ensuring high availability and reliability, including parts and outage planning. This agreement will better position the new combined cycle plant to benefit from the long-term, high performance of GE Vernova’s latest technology and global experience.
“We are pleased that West African Energy awarded us the agreement to help ensure they meet their energy production and capacity supply goals while supporting the Senegalese Government’s target to increase its generation capacity with a greater utilization of natural gas and renewables,” said Kenneth Oyakhire, Services Managing Director of GE Vernova’s Gas Power business in Sub-Saharan Africa. “In this day and age, reliability and efficiency are crucial elements of power plant operations, and this service agreement reflects the confidence our customers have in both our technology and our regional services capabilities to help ensure the power plant’s long-term reliability.”
The project also represents the first installation in Senegal of GE Vernova’s APM software. In the cloud, APM uses advanced predictive analytics from the company’s APM Reliability application to ingest sensor data in order to detect and diagnose equipment problems before they occur. With the help of artificial intelligence/machine learning-backed Digital Twins with built-in expertise, Senegal can increase asset reliability and availability while reducing operations and maintenance costs by moving to a predictive approach.