General Electric Company (GE) on Wednesday announced three significant investments in Pakistan, valued at over $50 million, to strengthen digitization, enhance local capabilities of GE Pakistan and its partners and to help develop new projects in clean energy sector.
Announced on the sidelines of the GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt’s visit, the new investments include the setting up of a dedicated Technology and Digital Center and investment in local manufacturing and in the clean energy sector.
The new GE Pakistan Technology and Digital Center marks GE’s focus to introduce its industrial internet solutions for its partners to support them in accelerating productivity and operational efficiency. GE is also looking to co-invest in several clean energy projects in the renewable and gas based sectors.
“We are building on our long history of operations and partnerships in the country with the new investments that will not only strengthen our service efficiency, but also drive localized innovation and human capital development,” said President and CEO of GE Pakistan Sarim Sheikh.
At Sapphire’s Muridke Power Plant, GE solutions are already being applied to two 6FA gas turbines and other major equipment, which will improve the facility’s operations for higher output, better efficiency and availability.
Further, GE’s Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solution is being installed on three 9E gas turbines at K-Electric’s Bin Qasim II Power Plant, which is expected to boost output and increase fuel efficiency. GE technologies generate nearly a third of Pakistan’s electricity, and the company is the largest operations and maintenance (O&M) and long term maintenance services provider to several leading independent power producers (IPPs) in the country.
More recently, GE signed an agreement to provide two high efficiency 9HA gas turbines and associated equipment to Bhikki Power Plant. Regarded as the world’s largest and most efficient, the 9HA gas turbines have been selected by world’s leading utilities in the United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Russia, Turkey, Egypt and Argentina among many others. The Bhikki plant will generate power enough to supply more than six million Pakistani homes.