China's Guangming Plant Starts Commercial Operation, Powered by GE Vernova's H-Class Equipment

­GE Vernova Inc. and Harbin Electric today announced that Chinese state-owned power utility Shenzhen Energy Group Corporation Co., Ltd.‘s Guangming power plant has achieved the start of operation in Shenzhen Guangming, a district of Guangdong province in China. Powered by three GE Vernova 9HA.01 gas turbines, Guangming plant is expected to deliver up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity to the most populous province in the country, with a population of approximately 127 million.

China aims to achieve a carbon emissions peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Driven by these goals, the country is committed to reduce coal’s share of its energy mix and expedite the building of highly efficient gas-powered combined cycle plants, likeGuangming power plant. This project is also aligned to local government policy reform in the Greater Bay Area focused on the coal-to-gas energy transition.

GE Vernova has collaborated with Shenzhen Energy Group for two decades, and both are committed to addressing the growing electricity needs while building a lower-carbon, more efficient and safer energy system in Guangdong. GE Vernova H-Class gas turbines not only have the ability to generate significant electrical output in a flexible and efficient way, but also help to ensure reliability of supply. This is crucial for the population of Guangdong province.

“Natural gas-fired generators have the lowest CO2 emissions of all fossil power generation fuels—and are ideal for countries like China where the need to transition from coal at scale while retaining reliability of supply is paramount,” said Xu Xin, President of GE Vernova Gas Power China Services. “We are excited to work together with Harbin Electric and bring our advanced HA technology, which offers among the lowest carbon emissions per amount of fossil fuel in the industry, to give power plant operators, like ShenzenEnergy Group, the ability to use fossil fuels more efficiently and lower carbon emissions compared to older coal power plants.”

To further advance on the path towards decarbonization utilizing gas power, GE Vernova 9HA.01 gas turbine has the capability to burn up to 50% by volume of hydrogen when blended with natural gas—offering a pathway for even lower carbon emitting operations.

For this project, Harbin Electric provided steam turbines and generators, and the gas turbines were provided by the Joint Venture called General Harbin Electric Gas Turbine (Qinhuangdao) Co., Ltd (“Joint Venture”), which was formed in 2019 between GE Vernova and Harbin Electric as a joint effort to focus on heavy duty gas turbine localization, aiming to deliver more efficient and reliable support for China natural gas power plants.

Operating in China for over 40 years, GE Vernova has been delivering innovative products and services that create significant value for its gas power generation customers, helping power plant operators to tackle the energy transition challenge. GE Vernova Gas Power serves more than 110 customers and more than 240 gas turbines in China, with an installed power capacity of 50 gigawatts (GW). To date, GE Vernova has secured six HA projects with 13 9HA gas turbines in China, delivering a total capacity of nearly 10 GW.