GE Energy said a new $400 million, 17-year service agreement, covering 27 gas turbines and 47 centrifugal compressors at Atlantic LNG’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility in Port Fortin, Trinidad, would add about a year of LNG production at the plant over the contract’s term.

The agreement includes a new modular maintenance approach to GE’s heavy-duty 32 MW gas turbines. Using the approach during scheduled outages, Atlantic LNG’s existing gas turbines will be removed and replaced in modules, substantially reducing turnaround times. GE said it will build and operate a dedicated service shop in Point Fortin, where the removed modules will be overhauled.

“Our patented modular replacement method is designed to reduce outage duration and significantly increase plant availability,” said Claudi Santiago, president and CEO of GE Energy’s oil and gas business.

“A key strategy for Atlantic LNG is to meet the growing demand for LNG by obtaining more production from our existing assets,” said Richard Cape, president of Atlantic LNG. “The advanced maintenance methodology developed by Atlantic LNG and GE and the…contract are key elements of this strategy.”

Along with achieving an extra year of production by reducing outage durations and extending maintenance intervals, GE’s contractual services team will work to enhance the plant availability while ensuring high safety standards.

The service includes technical support from the Florence, Italy, headquarters of GE Energy’s oil and gas business, through a remote monitoring and diagnostics system.

Three turbo compression trains are currently in production at the Port Fortin facility, with a fourth under construction. The first three trains produce about 10.3 million metric tons of LNG per year, or about 1,374 MMcf/d of gas. Train four, which is due online this year, is expected to produce 5.2 million metric tons per year, or about 694 MMcf/d.

Atlantic LNG, one of the top five LNG producers in the world, is owned by Trinidad and Tobago National Gas Co., BP, British Gas, Repsol and Tractebel.

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