By Sebastine Obasi, Dubai, UAE

Nigeria’s quest for a sustainable and reliable power sector has received a boost with GE’s $11 million dollar Jebel Ali Service Center, Dubai.

This was disclosed by Joseph Anis, Chief Executive Officer and President, GE Gas Power, Europe, Middle East and Africa, EMEA, while conducting journalists through a facility tour of the project in Dubai. He said, “GE’s Jebel Ali Service Center offers a full breath of offerings for the power sector to meet the increasing needs for reliable, efficient and sustainable electricity for a growing population.

Our core focus is on supporting our customers to ensure the seamless operations of the assets by providing swift maintenance and repair services distinguished by our commitment to quality, productivity, cost effectiveness”. 

He also explained that the diverse breath of repairs offerings at the Center cover gas turbines and generators. On-site services include blade replacement and repairs, machine repairs, generator rotor seal oil journal repairs, stator rewinds and other core maintenance. It is also GE’s only high speed balancing facility and dynamic electrical testing center for rotors in MEA. 

At GE’s Dubai Monitoring and Diagnostics (M and D) Center, it was noted that more than 950 power producing utilities use the M and D Center’s monitoring services for over 6,000 power assets around. “Our investment in the M and D Center is part of our continued efforts to drive the digital transformation of the power sector and leverage data and insights to support today’s dynamic energy market. It is critical to have asset visibility 24/7 and make data driven decisions so we can ultimately serve the community better by meeting their electricity needs more reliably,” Anis said. 

Also speaking on energy transition, the CEO said that reducing emission from the power sector will play critical role in addressing climate change. He stated, “As we accelerate efforts to reach net zero carbon emission ambitions, there can be no doubt that the world needs to invest at scale and with speed in new renewable energy projects.

However, it is also clear that these investments are not occurring fast enough. Renewable energy is expected to account for less than 50 per cent of total global electricity supply in 2040. Moreover, the challenge on hand is not as simple as solving for sustainability. We must address the energy trilemma to achieve more reliable, affordable and sustainable power, while energy demand continues to rise.

“As the world steps up efforts to address climate change, renewable energy and gas power together are positioned to play a leading role in accelerating the transition to lower carbon energy future. The high quality services GE offers at our Jebel Ali Service Center as well as Diagnostics Center will enable us to continue to collaborate with our customers to ensure that they can keep their gas power assets running reliably to support the energy transition in the years ahead.”

Some of GE executives present during the tour included Otmane Benamar, Acting Chief Technology Officer of GE Gas Power, EMEA and Kenneth Oyakhire, Services Leader, GE, Gas Power Sub-Saharan Africa.