The PSM and Thomassen Energy teams engaged with GTCC Customers this past month in Dubai, to discuss Services and H2 Potential during the Middle East Rotating Turbomachinery Innovation Conference (ME RoTIC), one of the Middle East’s most recognized conferences. The gulf region continues to grow in terms of absolute power needs as well as the need for the services that go with these assets. A tremendous amount of photovoltaic solar power is currently being installed or in the planning stages of installation, as the various countries transition to a lower carbon intensity economy. With this comes the inherent volatility associated with the power source, which will soon be requiring the necessary flexible and responsive generation offered by the installed base of gas turbines in the region. Additionally, the key Oil & Gas and Power/Water Generators in the region see this carbon-free source of power as a means to generate green hydrogen via electrolysis, which can be used to make green ammonia, an important industrial and agriculture product or for use in power generation. Note that when hydrogen is used as a fuel for combustion in a gas turbine, the exhaust is not carbon dioxide (CO2), a major contributor to climate change, but rather water vapor. Additionally, the vast deposits of natural gas in the region can be turned into blue hydrogen, when the CO2 generated from the transformation process can be sequestered (stored) or use for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). So, as a way to meet their country’s and companies’ carbon reduction commitments in support of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26, Glasgow, Scotland 31 Oct – 12 Nov), both blue and green hydrogen are becoming a solution in the region to decarbonize gas turbines.
PSM and Thomassen’s conference presentation highlighted our high hydrogen HyFlex™ LEC-III™ and FlameSheet™ combustion retrofits, and there is keen interest in demonstration projects with a number of our current high-profile customers, asking us to support their highly visible and strategic nearer term initiatives. The message and approach, including the fact that PSM has actual commercial references, was extremely well received and will lead to follow-up discussions for more education and realistic project definition. Keeping PSM and Thomassen’s solutions visible, coupled with supporting and collaborating with partners to build up the necessary hydrogen production and storage infrastructure, is key to success in the region.
Many of the technical and leadership participants came to our exhibit area after the presentation for introductory meetings, as they were unaware of our capabilities in the decarbonization space. We had a very hands-on exhibition space, with a 3-D printed model of the FlameSheet™, which allowed us to get into the nitty-gritty of what makes our solution platform different from our competition, and discuss operational benefits that our combustion platforms provide. Adding our growing local capabilities on transactional and LTSA services in the region further helped to position our advanced combustion retrofit technologies in the marketplace, including the ability to offer local, responsive technical service expertise.
