GE Power, a division of GE, has marked the inauguration of its new Monitoring & Diagnostics Center (M&D Center) at the GE Kuwait Technology Center (KTC), a facility that provides advanced training, timely customer service and maintenance support.

The M&D Center is aimed at supporting GE Power’s partners in the country through 24x7 remote monitoring of GE’s gas turbines installed at numerous power plants across the Middle East, Africa and India, with a special focus on Kuwait, said a statement.

The M&D Center at KTC was inaugurated by Bakheet Al Rashidi, Kuwait’s Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity and Water; the US ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman; Mohammad Boushehri, undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity and Water of Kuwait; Dr Khaled Al Banaa, director general of GE KTC; and further high-ranking government officials including Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) and GE’s partners in the country, it said.

Al Rashidi said: “Promoting the productivity of our power plants is central to our energy sector vision to ensure reliable power supply.”

“As we focus on diversifying our energy resources, we also place emphasis on enhancing the operational efficiency of existing power plants by drawing on the latest technology available,” he said.

“The centre is a value-add to Kuwait that will help support the efficient operations of power plants and boost electricity generation,” he added.

Joseph Anis, president and CEO of GE’s Power Services business in Africa, India and the Middle East, said: “Adding to the contribution of the GE Kuwait Technology Center to the local economy and industry, the new M&D Center is an example of the practical application of our digital industrial suite of solutions.”

“By remotely monitoring the performance of our gas turbines deployed widely in Kuwait, we can enable our partners to achieve higher levels of productivity to meet the government’s goals of reliable power supply” he said.

Dr Dalya Al Muthanna, president and CEO of GE Gulf, said: “The Kuwait Technology Center has made a transformational impact in building Kuwaiti human capital for the power sector thorough the advanced training and collaborative research it promotes.”

“Through the new M&D Center, we are bringing additional value for our partners through real-time monitoring of the gas turbine assets. We are committed to investing and developing human capital, and will continue to pursue initiatives that can bring higher levels of industrial efficiency and productivity,” she said.

Silverman said: “Kuwait has clear goals to diversify its energy resources and to bring greater efficiency and productivity to the power sector. A global tech and digital leader, GE’s new M&D Center will support the country and utility providers to scale up their operations.”

“It further adds to the research, talent development and service ecosystem created by the Kuwait Technology Center,” he said.

KTC focuses on strengthening R&D, promoting cutting-edge innovation, providing timely service and maintenance and enhancing localisation. A state-of-the-art facility set on 6,000-sq-m, the GE Kuwait Technology Center serves as a hub for providing timely service and maintenance support for GE’s customers in the country and across the region.

A premier training facility, it trains over 900 students and technical professionals annually, and has already provided training for 190 people. They gain advanced hands-on theoretical and practical training alongside experts who conduct path-breaking engineering research and development.

In addition, high-value maintenance services and tools are made available in the country for the very first time through the centre.

GE technologies deliver over a third of Kuwait’s power today and the company creates employment for more than 250 people in the country, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service