GE expands turbine services in W.Java

JAKARTA (JP): PT GE Nusantara Turbine Services is expanding its turbine service center in Bandung, West Java, from 300 to 1,500 square meters to repair and service more GE gas and steam turbines.

"The expanded center will open this month," the company said Tuesday.

GE Nusantara was established by GE Power Systems of the United States, as the majority shareholder, the state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) and the state-owned ship-builder PT PAL.

The company says its service center will be able to repair GE Frame 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 gas turbine parts. And when more equipment is installed next April, it will be able to repair Frame 5 and 6 gas turbine rotating parts.

In 1994, GE Power Systems signed an agreement with the Indonesian Agency for Strategic Industries to establish a gas turbine manufacturing plant for aeroderivative and heavy-duty turbines, generators and mechanical drive systems.

GE Power Systems says it anticipates double-digit annual growth in additional electricity capacity in Southeast Asia over the next decade, spurred by petroleum exploration and the region's need for more electricity.

John Lavelle, the regional director of GE Power Systems, said the expanded service center would support other GE centers in Southeast Asia to service gas and steam turbine equipment.

Stuart L. Dean, the president of GE Indonesia, said the expansion project was "one more indication of GE's confidence in Indonesia".

He said that in the last three years GE had invested over US$200 million in Indonesia and that it planned to invest more. (bnt)