Vattenfall becomes first to use Additive Manufactured Performance upgrade

Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG, a subsidiary of Swedish utility Vattenfall AB, and a leading European energy company, has had a long-standing relationship with GE and its technology for more than 20 years at its Heizkraftwerk Berlin-Mitte district heating plant. And soon, this plant will become the site of the world’s first GT13E2 MXL2 with Additive Manufactured Performance (AMP) upgrade.

The new MXL2 with AMP is the world’s first upgrade solution for GE’s GT13E2 gas turbine that uses key components manufactured using additive technology.. The new technology can help gas plant power producers with GT13E2 machines save up to $2 million in fuel annually, while opening up the potential for additional revenue of up to $3 million annually. 

The new MXL2 with AMP features two components produced by GE’s Additive Manufacturing Works (AMW) teams: the first-stage turbine vanes and the heat shields. These parts are among the turbine’s hottest-running components, and the significant amount of cooling air they traditionally require impacts the engine’s performance. Additive printing allows GE to use advanced cooling designs that reduce the amount of cooling air the parts need, improving the turbine’s performance and offering operators potentially millions of dollars in benefits per year.