HA gas turbines: Complementing renewables and accelerating the shift toward decarbonization

While RE will lead the path forward for reducing carbon emissions, its intermittency and associated grid stability challenges will be a significant concern.

Grid stability and availability of reliable, sustainable, and affordable power is crucial for the power sector as it marches towards a more sustainable future. Maintaining a steady line of balance between power supply and demand requires a dependable power source. High-efficient GT combined-cycle power alternatives will play a significant part in addressing this challenge as they complement renewable energy. Their ability to ramp quickly, be emission compliant even at lower turndowns, and flex and fill in for gaps in RE power supply will help ensure a more sustainable electricity supply and grid stability as the sector achieves lower carbon intensity.

Flexibility is vital in today's power industry. GTs are designed to ramp up and down quickly while being emission compliant, making them ideal for balancing inherent inconsistencies associated with renewable power. Among these, GE Vernova's 7HA and 9HA high-efficiency, combined-cycle heavy-duty gas turbines stand out for their higher flexibility and efficiency capabilities:

• Rapid response: 7HA and 9HA turbines can reach full load (simple cycle) in less than 30 minutes, making them ideal for managing fluctuating grid demands and renewable energy intermittencies.

• High efficiency: 7HA and 9HA turbines are highly efficient, reducing fuel consumption and overall carbon intensity.

• Adaptability to load changes: Their ability to handle load swings with state-of-the-art ETS® technology developed on a model-based control (MBC) platform that ensures grid stability without compromising performance.

This ability to adapt while maintaining flexibility and efficiency allows GTs to serve as a reliable complementary technology, helping to smoothen the transition to a more sustainable energy grid.

GTs are doing more than just bridging a gap—they are enabling the transition.

Efficiency plays a significant role in reducing emissions. GTs, such as GE Vernova’s HA class engines, are engineered to help enhance output while reducing fuel consumption, achieving high-efficiency power generation at lower carbon intensity compared to traditional E- or F-class units and contribute to a lower operating expense (OpEx) for the operators.

High-efficiency combined cycle GTs are critical to the energy transition as the energy landscape evolves. They can provide a more reliable and stable complementary power with lower carbon intensity and reduce the impact of intermittency and grid instability as grids shift towards renewable energy dominance. In the next blog, we'll explore the history of the HA series and how innovation has shaped its performance and efficiency.

Footnotes

1. _{IEA (2024), Electricity Mid-Year Update - July 2024, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-mid-year-update-july-2024, License: CC BY 4.0} 

2. _{IEA (2023), World Energy Outlook 2023, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2023, License: CC BY 4.0 (report); CC BY NC SA 4.0 (Annex A)}