Korean companies Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries contract GE technology.
The GE equipment will be installed on 23 new LNG ships and represents total propulsion power of 1,105 megawatts.
Traditionally, the propulsion of LNG tankers has been based on boil-off boilers and steam turbines. In recent years, more and more ship owners have turned to dual-fuel engine systems combined with electric propulsion as more efficient solutions, up to 30 percent at high loads. Moreover, these solutions increase cargo capacity by 3 to 5 percent as they enable the ship designer to optimize the equipment layout.
The scope of these new GE’s contracts includes MV7000 converters, induction motors, transformers, generators, main and cargo switchboards and propulsion control systems. Manufacturing for all propulsion motors is based in GE’s rotating machines plant in Nancy, France, while the propulsion systems are engineered at the GE merchant marine center of excellence in Belfort, France.
GE’s motors and converter are designed and optimized to make the propulsion systems easy to maintain. The induction machines are driven by press-pack IGBT Pulse Wide Modulation (PWM) converters to offer high levels of reliability in a compact design. GE’s global electric propulsion systems provide customers with high efficiency, availability and layout flexibility.
“These orders clearly demonstrate that GE’s expertise in electric propulsion for LNG applications is recognized worldwide by the major players in the sector,” said Paul English, marine vertical leader for GE’s Power Conversion business.