GE Renewable Energy has been awarded a contract by a Latin American consortium to supply three bulb turbine-generators for the Chicoasén II Hydroelectric Power Plant project in Mexico for the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) who will operate the power plant.

Chicoasén II will be the fifth hydropower plant sourcing its flow from the Grijalva River aimed at meeting the growing energy requirements of South Western Mexico. The other power plants (Chicoasén I, Penitas, La Angostura and Malpaso) currently produce 54% of the country’s hydroelectricity.

The GE bulb turbine-generators will supply 80 MW each - with a total power output equivalent to 240 MW of renewable power, they will provide 591 GWh of power annually into the national electric grid. The Chicoasén units will be the highest capacity bulb turbine-generators installed anywhere in the world to date.

"We are very happy to be part of the Comisión Federale de Electricidad’s project to encourage and promote green power in Mexico. The Chicoasén II power plant will be the first facility in the world to be equipped with 80 MW bulb turbines " said Yves Rannou, CEO of GE’s Hydro business. “It proves GE technological leadership in the Hydro field”.

The three bulb turbine-generators will be supplied by GE’s Hydro facility in Tianjin, China, which is GE’s largest hydro power industrial site in the world. Under the contract, GE is responsible for the equipment design, manufacturing, as well as providing Technical Field Advisor and experts on site.

The contract is also the fourth project GE’s Hydro facility in China will execute with Sinohydro after signing the Karuma Project in Uganda earlier this year.

Bulb turbines are a solution for hydroelectric power generation in areas where water flow is high with low or very low water head. The company has supplied more than 300 bulb turbines around the world. Bulb turbines have seen a significant uptake worldwide over the last few years.

GE’s Hydro business, part of the energy businesses that GE acquired from Alstom, has played a leading part in major bulb turbine projects around the world, including Brazil, Canada and China.

The company currently possesses 25% of installed hydroelectric power capacity worldwide.