GE Oil and Gas to Provide Two New Gas Turbines for Lucart's Paper Mills

GE Oil & Gas has signed an agreement for the provision of two of its new NovaLT12 gas turbines for cogeneration applications (CHP) to two paper mills in Tuscany, Italy, owned by Lucart Group, an Italian multinational, leader in the production of monolucid papers, tissue and airlaid products in Europe. This deal will create operational and environmental efficiencies for Lucart as well as further GE’s position as a leader in the power generation market.

The NovaLT12 turbines have been designed for higher efficiency and lower total cost of ownership than its market peers. Lucart is replacing its current GE turbine units with GE’s latest NovaLT12 technology.

"The installation of our NovaLT12 turbines at Lucart’s plants is another example of our leading power generation capabilities, and demonstrates our steadfast commitment to constantly improving our products," said Michele Stangarone, president & CEO Europe, GE Oil & Gas. "This project builds on our longstanding relationship with Lucart and shows our ongoing dedication to creating efficiencies for our customers."

"We have been the first company in the sector to focus on the self-production of electricity and steam with cogeneration turbines to reduce CO2 emissions at our plants and today we continue the process of efficiency of our production plants," said Massimo Pasquini, CEO of Lucart. "GE Oil & Gas is our historic technology partner since 1988 and thanks to this new investment involving two of our plants in Tuscany we will be able to carry on our business plan. This new technology will not only increase our working efficiency, but will reduce NOx and CO2 emissions to help us reduce our carbon footprint. We look forward to working further with GE Oil & Gas in the future and building on our partnership."

The scope of supply also includes two fuel gas compressors, a Contractual Service Agreement (CSA) covering 140,000 firing hours for each train. Both units will be in operation by summer 2020. The NovaLT12 joins GE Oil & Gas’s growing family of industrial gas turbines, which includes the NovaLT16 and NovaLT5 units. The standard model of the NovaLT12 turbine can deliver 12.6 MW, while design options will be included for requirements from 10.5 MW to 13.9 MW. As with the whole NovaLT family, the product features a modular design to significantly reduce customized engineering needs, which in turn enhances delivery time and saves total cost to customers.

The NovaLT12 is 12% smaller than the NovaLT16 and can operate at up to 37% efficiency when working at full load. The turbine features HPT end-wall contouring to further increase efficiency and minimizes oil leakage and associated maintenance with integral exhaust casing and LPT bearing housing. The turbine was designed for easy maintenance through simplified engine architecture and features increased operating flexibility with inner and outer baffle redesign for more tuneable dynamic behavior.

The NovaLT suite of products is designed to accommodate an increasing trend for distributed power generation closer to the point of consumption. With efficiency up to 85% in cogeneration applications, GE’s NovaLT family of gas turbines represent the most advanced solution to produce heat and power.

As part of this effort to continuously improve operations capabilities, GE Oil & Gas is now running a NovaLT16 continuous operation on the electrical grid in a dedicated power gen station at its Florence facility. Certified by a third party, the targeted completion is 8,000 hours.