Wärtsilä supplying 150 MW of power to Brazil

Wärtsilä will supply three gas engine power plants with a combined output of 150 MW to Brazil.

The plants will be delivered on a fast-track basis and are scheduled to be operational in the second quarter of 2022.

The electricity produced by the thermal balancing power plants will be fed to the national grid assuring system reliability, for instance, during times of adverse weather conditions. The contracts include altogether 16 Wärtsilä 20V34SG gas engine generating sets. The projects will be delivered on an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) basis to existing power plant sites UTE Luiz Oscar Rodrigues de Melo and UTE Viana 1, as well as a new power plant UTE Povoação 1, all located in Espírito Santo, a state in Southeast Region of Brazil.

Wärtsilä 20V34SG gas engine generating sets in an engine hall.

Wärtsilä gas power plants feature high efficiency at any load, providing plant efficiency levels of up to 50% in simple cycle, and up to 54% in combined cycle mode. They can reach full output power within minutes of the start signal, which is an essential benefit in systems that wish to integrate higher levels of renewable energy, the company said.

Flexible Wärtsilä gas engine power plants can utilise natural gas, LPG, synthetic fuels and various bio-gas fuels. The Brazilian power plants which initially run on natural gas, can switch to operate on sustainable decarbonized fuels as and when these sources become available. This future-proofing feature alleviates the risk of investments made today becoming stranded assets later.

“Our presence in Brazil is long and solid,” said Håkan Agnevall, president and CEO, Wärtsilä Corp. “With these projects, we are approaching the important milestone of 3 GW of installed base in the country and continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers. We offer the best-in-class technology for power optimization. The high efficiency of the Wärtsilä engines, with their quick power ramp-ups, in a matter of minutes rather than hours or days, provide the flexibility and reliability needed in today’s energy market, which is trending increasingly towards renewable energy.”

Wärtsilä Brazil was established in 1990 and has operations in Rio de Janeiro and Manaus with a complete offering covering the total range of Wärtsilä’s equipment portfolio. To date, Wärtsilä has delivered 2.7 GW of power plant capacity in Brazil, of which 739 MW are currently covered by Wärtsilä long-term service agreements. Wärtsilä has also converted 275 MW of oil-fueled capacity to run on natural gas in Brazil.