by Shane Henson — January 21, 2013—General Electric’s (GE) Power & Water Division recently announced that five of its Jenbacher cogeneration systems will be used to help China National Petroleum Corporation’s (CNPC ) new data center conserve energy.
Powered by GE’s 3.34-megawatt (MW) J620 Jenbacher cogeneration units, the 16.7 MW combined cooling and heating power plant (CCHP) will offer a total efficiency of up to 85 percent to minimize the data center’s energy costs. The power plant’s electricity also will support the regional grid, says GE.
CNPC, reportedly China’s largest oil and gas producer and supplier, is building the data center to support its new Technology Innovation Base in the National Independent Innovation Park in Changping. The Technology Innovation Base is the company’s center for petroleum engineering technology research and development. The new power facility will be the first cogeneration plant built in China that will meet an industrial data center’s on-site cooling and heating requirements, says GE.
According to GE, the cogeneration plant will offer CNPC significant environmental benefits by using cleaner-burning natural gas. Cogeneration technologies are considered to be far more fuel efficient than separate electricity and thermal power systems, adds GE. The company will deliver the Jenbacher units by the end of April 2013. Commercial start-up is scheduled for the end of 2013.
GE says the project illustrates the breadth of GE’s solutions for mission-critical data centers.
“GE’s Jenbacher cogeneration technology offers the highest availability and critical load management capacity to support CNPC’s operational and backup energy security requirements,” said Karl Wetzlmayer, general manager of gas engines for power generation—GE Power & Water.
