General Electric, the US industrial group, will announce a $500m deal on Thursday to supply new gas and steam turbines to the Kingdom of Bahrain as the company continues to push for a greater presence in the Middle East to counteract troubles in its domestic market.

Through the deal GE will supply advanced power equipment and services to Al Dur, Bahrain’s largest power plant, which will generate 30 per cent of the country’s electricity when completed. The move is GE’s latest effort to embrace faster-growing emerging markets while it struggles domestically and works to shrink its finance arm, GE Capital.