|By Arabian Post Staff| GE marked a new milestone in its operational presence in Kuwait with the opening of the GE Kuwait Technology Center (GEKTC), a flagship facility that will foster localized research, provide hands-on training and build an innovation ecosystem specifically for the power sector.
Approved by the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) for a Foreign Investment License last year, the 6,000 sq meter GEKTC, based at Agility in Sulaibiya, is the first facility of its kind outside of the United States by GE, underlining the company’s long-term commitment to Kuwait, its people and the wider region.
As part of a new MoU signed with Kuwait University (KU), the Center will drive localized training and research and development (R&D) in power generation in Kuwait, supporting the goals of Kuwait Vision 2035 to nurture youth talent and create high quality jobs in the technical sector.
An integrated training, tooling and engineering facility, the Center has three core components: A Training Center supporting over 900 students and technical professionals each year, Tooling Center to offer repair & maintenance services, and Engineering Center for cutting-edge research and development.
The Engineering Center will also house a Monitoring and Diagnostics Center and a Controls Simulation laboratory providing local capability to monitor GE’s connected turbine and generator fleet across the region and supporting GE’s digital industrial applications including Predix, the world’s first and only cloud-based operating system for the industry.
Highlighting GE’s focus on digital industrial transformation by integrating big data with heavy machinery to achieve unprecedented levels of operational efficiency and productivity, the GEKTC team will also work with Kuwaiti researchers, industry and software developers to co-create digital industrial solutions for the power industry.
First announced in 2015, GEKTC is a world-class facility established to support the Middle East and Africa by providing enriching training programs, a sustainable tooling center and innovative engineering for decades to come.
GEKTC features a large generator, steam turbine and gas turbine, and offers practical training on advanced power sector technology and solutions including the GE 7E gas turbine, D11 steam turbine, aero derivative gas turbines and more.
GEKTC will also focus on Hot & Harsh research that evaluates the effect of high temperature, dust, corrosion, erosion, duty cycle, and fuel harshness, which have a critical impact on the reliability and efficiency of power plants. The findings of these studies will be applied on turbines and generators of GE’s customers, further strengthening their reliability and efficiency.