GAS TURBINE ENGINE OPERABLE AT VERY LOW PARTIAL LOAD AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING A GAS TURBINE ENGINE

A gas turbine engine includes: a combustor assembly (7), having a plurality of burners (18); a fuel supply system (9), configured to supply a fuel flowrate (M2) to the burners (18) and including a fuel supply line (17) and a main fuel valve (22) between the fuel supply line (17) and the burners (18); and a control unit (10), configured to control the fuel flowrate (M2) using the main fuel valve (22) in a first load range (LR1) from full load to a threshold partial load. The fuel supply system (9) includes an auxiliary fuel valve (23) fluidly coupled between the fuel supply line (17) and at least a group of associated burners (18). The control unit (10) is further configured to control the fuel flowrate (M2) using the auxiliary fuel valve (23) in a second load range (LR2) from the threshold partial load (LTH) to a minimum load (ML).