Africa is ready to provide enough energy to achieve the most ambitious of goals, and it can do it while maintaining all environmental targets.
We believe careful planning of power systems towards more sustainable and diversified energy supply portfolios can save billions and rapidly reduce CO2 emissions. We create value through our extensive power system knowledge and experience from integrating different generating assets.
On this page, you may find our best materials and proceedings in energising and decarbonising the continent of Africa.
of engine power plant capacity installed
African countries with active customers
Wärtsilä engines installed across the continent
customers across the continent
With more than 650 employees and service hubs located in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Senegal, Wärtsilä is proud to have contributed to many industry firsts. These include Africa’s largest gas engine power plant on the Kribi coast of Cameroon with 216MW capacity, as well as Africa’s highest installation, the 175 MW power plant in Sasolburg, South Africa, sitting at 1,700 meters above sea level.
Another first, the KivuWatt power plant in Rwanda, is the first ever power plant to use the naturally occurring methane from lake Kivu to generate electricity and reduce the environmental risks associated with such high concentrations of gas. Today’s power output is 25 MW but future planned expansions to this project will increase capacity by an additional 75 MW.
Technology group Wärtsilä has again been awarded a major contract by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a river authority based in Austin, Texas, that provides wholesale power to the Texas power grid. Following an order by LCRA for ten Wärtsilä engines generating an output of approximately 190 MW in 2022, the new order for a further ten Wärtsilä 50SG engines will double the earlier output. The order was booked by Wärtsilä in March 2024.
The new Timmerman Power Plant, located near Maxwell, Texas, will supply additional capacity needed to support LCRA's customers and support the Texas power grid and ERCOT, the Texas electrical grid operator. ERCOT supplies power to more than 26 million customers, or about 90 percent of the state's electric load. The additional capacity will help alleviate supply challenges created by load growth and the retirement of ageing plants in Texas. Furthermore, the fast-starting Wärtsilä engines will provide dispatchable power to balance the increasing amount of intermittent renewables introduced into the system. There is a very high penetration of renewables installed and growing rapidly in ERCOT.
“We appreciate Wärtsilä’s track record in supplying efficient and reliable engines,” said Randa Stephenson, LCRA executive vice president and chief operating officer of Wholesale Power. “The flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines is particularly important in providing the rapid ramp-up of power needed for our new peaker plant, which will be called upon to quickly come online when other generation is not available to meet the power demand in our growing state.”
LCRA’s new plant will operate on natural gas and will have two units, each powered by 10 Wärtsilä’ engines. The first unit is expected to come online in 2025, with the second unit scheduled to be completed in 2026. Together, the units will be able to provide power for about 100,000 homes during periods of peak demand.
The Wärtsilä 50SG engine consumes little to no water, which is an important feature in Texas, an area often affected by drought.
“We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this valuable follow-up order. It emphasises the added value that our engine technology offers as the energy sector transitions to greater efficiency and increased sustainability. We appreciate LCRA for selecting flexible solutions as Texas experiences increased power demand that cannot be adequately served by an ageing fleet of inflexible power plants,” said Risto Paldanius, Vice President, Americas at Wärtsilä Energy.
Wärtsilä has installed over 70 engine power plants, as well as 29 energy storage facilities in the U.S. since 1981. These installations have a total combined capacity of more than 6.9 GW.
Media contact for more information on this release:
Katri Pehkonen
Communications Manager
Wärtsilä Energy
Mob: +358 50 591 6180
katri.pehkonen@wartsila.com
Image caption: From left to right: Andreas Bucheler, Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives, Wärtsilä; Risto Paldanius, Vice President, Americas, Wärtsilä; Randa Stephenson, LCRA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wholesale Power; Tim Timmerman, Chair of the LCRA Board of Directors; Andrew Valencia, Senior Vice President of Generation at LCRA; and Phil Wilson, LCRA General Manager. © LCRA
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Wärtsilä Energy in brief
Wärtsilä Energy leads the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. We help our partners to accelerate their decarbonisation journeys through our market-leading technologies and power system modelling expertise. These cover decarbonisation services, future-fuel enabled balancing power plants, hybrid solutions, energy storage and optimisation technology, including the GEMS Digital Energy Platform. Wärtsilä Energy’s lifecycle services are designed to increase efficiency, promote reliability and guarantee operational performance. Our track record comprises 79 GW of power plant capacity and 125 energy storage systems delivered to 180 countries around the world.
www.wartsila.com/energy
Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in innovative technologies and lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. We emphasise innovation in sustainable technology and services to help our customers continuously improve environmental and economic performance. Our dedicated and passionate team of 17,800 professionals in more than 280 locations in 79 countries shape the decarbonisation transformation of our industries across the globe. In 2023, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 6.0 billion. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
www.wartsila.com
South Africa
4 Powerful Street,
Paarden Eiland
7405,
Cape Town
Tel. +27 21 5111 230
Nigeria
Wärtsilä Marine and Power Services Nigeria
23 Oba Akinjobi Street
Ikeja GRA, Lagos
Nigeria
Tel. +234 907 808 0936 - Marine enquiry
+234 8057217049 - New Builds enquiry
+234 708 624 3992 - After Sales enquiry
E-mail: Sales/Services equiries WNG@Wartsila.com
Kenya
ABC Towers - 7A, ABC Place
Waiyaki Way
Nairobi
Tel. +254 20 7602 400 (Pilot)
E-mail: info.wea@wartsila.com
Senegal
Wärtsilä West Africa
Immeuble Le Thiargane 7ème étage, Mermoz Place OMVS
B.P. 21861 Dakar-Ponty, Dakar - Senegal
Tel + 221 33 865 41 00
Fax + 221 33 864 42 72
E-mail: West.africa@wartsila.com
Madagascar
Fort Dauphin (Taolagnaro)
QMM Madena, Fort Dauphin, 614
Madagascar
Tel. +261 20 224 3267
Fax: +261 20 224 3253
Cameroon
Wärtsilä Central Africa
Wärtsilä Base, Essengue
Douala, Cameroon
Tel +237 33 50 54 00
Fax +237 33 50 54 99
wcm@wartsila.com for general information
wcmsales@wartsila.com for commercial issues