GC and GE Sign Agreement to Modernize Nine Gas Turbines and Improve Reliability at GC's Industrial Power Plant in Thailand

PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (GC) signed a 10-year extension to its existing multiyear agreement (MYA) for GE (GE) to service six GE 6B and three Frame 5 gas turbines at its Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate power plant in Rayong, Thailand. In addition to its total plant solution offerings, GE also will provide its Asset Performance Management (APM) software as part of GE’s Digital Energy portfolio. The MYA was signed at a ceremony today in Bangkok attended by Dr.Kongkrapan Intarajang, chief operating officer—Upstream Petrochemical Business of GC and Board Directors of PTTGC.

“As a leader in the chemicals business, we are dedicated to combining environmentally friendly innovations with advanced technologies to develop products that improve lives. GC has a long-standing relationship with GE. We have decided to extend the service agreement by 10 years to enhance our operations and digitize the power plant,” said GC’s Dr. Kongkrapan Intarajang.

GC is one of the leading petrochemical companies in Thailand and the chemical flagship of the PTT Group, which owns a total of 29 GE gas turbines. GE started working with the PTT Group at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in 1989. The original MYA began in 2009, and with this new 10-year extension, the MYA will continue through to 2032. Specifically, GE’s total plant services solutions will help GC reduce operating costs and are expected to achieve higher availability by extending the inspection interval from every three years to every four years and increasing reliability and efficiency.

“In this day and age, reliability and efficiency are crucial elements of power plant operations,” said Ramesh Singaram, president of GE Power in APAC. “Our platform of total plant solutions provides a full spectrum of digital offerings and plant improvement services that we are implementing to help GC increase the reliability of its plant and ultimately will support Thailand’s target to reduce electricity costs. Our long-term working relationship with GC, along with a good cooperation, has led GC to extend the MYA by 10 additional years.”

The project also represents the first installation in Thailand of GE’s Predix* APM software. APM uses advanced predictive analytics to analyze data, helping to detect and diagnose equipment problems before they occur, increasing asset reliability and availability while also reducing operations and maintenance costs. It helps achieve these improvements by connecting disparate data sources within a plant and using advanced analytics to turn that data into actionable insights.

GE’s APM software solution with monitoring and diagnostics will help GC to detect issues early and receive remote technical support from GE’s Monitoring & Diagnostics Center in Atlanta. It is one of the world’s largest power generation monitoring facility, overseeing the real-time operating conditions inside 5,000 turbines, generators and other equipment located at 950 power plants in 75 countries. APM will detect and analyze the performance of the nine GE gas turbines and predict potential issues and downtime before it happens, which will allow GC to make necessary repairs and adjustments before the issues occur.