Mobile gas power plants head to energy-hungry Bolivia

How do you get large amounts of stable power to regions facing an energy crunch fast? Bolivia has found an answer in mobile power plants.

Two GE aeroderivative gas power plants are on their way to the energy-hungry cities of Carrasco and Kenko, where they will be quickly deployed to begin delivering electricity to the regions.

“There is a power emergency in Bolivia, and consequently, we have a need for fast, reliable power,” said Gustavo Ramos Terán, CEO of Empresa Electrica Valle Hermoso, a subsidiary of the government entity Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDE). “GE was able to help us meet this need in a project that is providing 24 megawatts of power in just 90 days.”

One GM2500+ power plant, shipped to Carrasco in late September, is due to begin operations in the middle of this month. A second, shipped around the same time, is set to start operating in Kenko, a city near La Paz, in February 2012. They’re the first two such units GE has deployed to Latin America.

“Our TM2500+ trailer-mounted aeroderivative gas turbines have been developed specifically to respond to the need for fast or mobile power,” said Darryl Wilson, president and CEO of aeroderivative gas turbines for GE Power & Water.

GE’s aeroderivative business, headquartered in Houston, Texas, modifies GE aviation engines to burn natural gas and/or biofuels for generating electricity. The units, which range from 18 to 100 megawatts of capacity, can also be used for marine propulsion and in the exploration, production and transmission of oil and gas.