Wärtsilä contracted to operate and maintain coal fired power plant in India

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade press release 23 December 2009 at 10:00 UTC+2

Wärtsilä, a leading provider of flexible decentralised power generation solutions, has been awarded an important operations and maintenance (O&M) contract by the Vedanta Group company, Hindustan Zinc, India, a global producer of zinc and lead.

The contract covers the complete operation and maintenance of the entire coal-fired power plant, including the coal and ash handling facilities and the de-mineralised water plant. The order was placed in November 2009. This 160 MW capacity power plant, located in Rajpura Dariba, near Udaipur in Rajasthan, is part of Hindustan Zinc’s Phase-III expansion plans.

The order is of particular significance for Wärtsilä as it involves running and servicing generating equipment not supplied by Wärtsilä. When fully completed, the power plant will supply electricity to the Dariba Mines mining and smelting complex. The first phase of the power project is expected to be commissioned on March 1, 2010 and the final phase by August 2010.

Wärtsilä provides operations and management services that maintain the lifetime productivity of the customer’s investment. By signing an operations and maintenance agreement with Wärtsilä, the customer can focus on his core business while Wärtsilä ensures the optimal performance of the installation. Wärtsilä operates and maintains 130 installations, with a total output of close to 4900 MW, all over the world. The company employs approximately 1900 people for its global O&M activities.

Wärtsilä already has O&M agreements for six other sites owned by the same group, producing a total combined electrical output of 180 MW, In all, Wärtsilä is currently contracted to operate and maintain close to 60 power plants with approximately 1000 MW of generating capacity throughout India.

“Wärtsilä’s successful O&M track record played an important role in the winning of this latest contract,” said a company official of Hindustan Zinc.

Upon announcing this order, Rakesh Sarin, Managing Director, Wärtsilä in India, commented: “This project represents a big step for Wärtsilä India in establishing itself as a major player in the operations and maintenance of large, coal-based power plants. We faced stiff competition throughout the negotiating period, but our commitment to the customer, our competitive pricing, and above all, the positive feed-back from Wärtsilä operated power plants owned by the same group, were the decisive factors.”

The contract is for a 5-year period plus a three-month mobilisation period. It is anticipated that Wärtsilä’s robust methods and processes will assist the customer in achieving its performance parameters on a sustainable and long-term basis.

Hindustan Zinc is India’s only, and the world’s second largest, integrated producer of zinc and lead. The company is expected to become the world’s largest producer of metals by mid 2010.

For further information, please contact:

Anoop Kundu
Associate Vice President-O&M Sales
Wärtsilä India
Direct Tel +91 9811309731
e-mail: anoop.kundu@wartsila.com 

Lydia D’Sa
Deputy General Manager-Corporate Communications
Wärtsilä India
Tel +91 22 7575361/71
e-mail: lydia.dsa@wartsila.com; power@wartsila.com

Maria Nystrand
Publicity Manager,
Wärtsilä Power Plants
Direct tel: +358 10 709 1456
e-mail: maria.nystrand@wartsila.com

Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.
In 2008, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 4.6 billion with 19,000 employees. The company has operations in 160 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.

www.wartsila.com