Climate
Driving power through a delicate balance
Operating a natural gas pipe array requires balance — between power demands and space limitations, and between productivity and the environment. For RWE, a leading electric power and natural gas utility in Europe, GE’s Integrated Compressor Line (ICL) plays a key part in achieving this balance.
Two ICL units provide a flexible solution for RWE’s combined cycle gas turbine power plant in Lingen, Germany, allowing natural gas to be temporarily buffered. Each unit is operated as a gas booster that enables more than 250 stops and starts per year. Thanks to their compact design, the ICLs can meet these demands within a limited amount of space.
“We are very pleased that RWE Power, one of Europe’s leading power generating companies, has selected our ICL technology. This is another example of the strong interest among our customers for advanced technology to help protect our environment,” said Claudi Santiago, President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas. “We have designed the ICL product line to address today’s growing requirements for reliability, pollution and noise control for oil and gas applications with clean dry gas services up to 15 megawatts of power.”
Developed over a 20-year span, the ICL is a fully integrated compression system that incorporates a high-speed electric motor drive and a centrifugal compressor in a single sealed casing. Because it lacks a combustion engine, uses oil-free active magnetic bearings, and operates within a completely sealed case, the unit produces no direct CO2 emissions and leaks no methane into the atmosphere — balancing productivity and environmental concerns.
