GE Marine Engines announced that a GE LM2500+ combined gas turbine and steam turbine integrated electric drive system (COGES) plant powers Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas cruise ship, which recently made its maiden voyage. The 962-foot long ship has a passenger capacity of 2,100, is of 90,090 gross tonnage and has a cruising speed of 25 knots. Currently there are a total of six cruise ships in operation that use GE’s LM2500+ COGES plant: two Royal Caribbean ships – Brilliance of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas -- and four Celebrity Cruises ships – Millennium, Infinity, Summit and Constellation.

The COGES arrangement on each ship features two GE LM2500+ gas turbine-generators and one steam turbine-generator set for a total output of 59 megawatts. This electric drive configuration provides for both main ship propulsion as well as all onboard power generation. To date, the 12 LM2500+ gas turbines aboard the six ships have accumulated 75,000 hours in service.The COGES arrangement is a very efficient use of energy. Energy that otherwise would be lost in the gas turbine exhaust is captured by heat recovery steam generators to produce steam for steam turbine electric power generation and service steam use.

The LM2500+ COGES ships operate on clean distillate fuel to significantly reduce emissions of most airborne pollutants and other particulates, as compared to a diesel electric power system operating on heavy fuel oil, which is customary for most cruise ships.