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.
Power plants installed across the continent
of engine power plant capacity installed.
African countries served
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.
In this exclusive webinar on 8 December... Wärtsilä will discuss the methodology and results of their report on Nigeria and required future steps (climate finance, planning, system reforms). Energy Exemplar will then extend on how key topics across Africa, such as market liberalisation, increased interconnection, and hydrogen transition can be studied using their PLEXOS software and African energy market data models.
African countries are amongst the hardest hit by climate change, despite only emitting less than 3% of the world’s energy‐related CO2.
With COP27 taking place in Egypt this year, a global focus is being laid onto this continent and reports on its energy future are increasing. With powerful modelling and simulation tools such as Energy Exemplar’s PLEXOS, scenarios can be modelled to gain a better understanding of what this future could look like.
Click the link above to register.
The technology group Wärtsilä’s strong relationship with one of Egypt’s major independent power producers (IPPs) is further enhanced with a new order. Under a contract placed in February 2022 by Kahraba, a subsidiary of Egypt Kuwait Holding (EKH), Wärtsilä will deliver new generating equipment to add approximately 20 MW of output to the existing Borg El Arab power plant located some 45 kilometres southwest of Alexandria, Egypt. Additionally, Wärtsilä will upgrade the existing 40 MW plant with the latest generation control system. The contract was booked in Wärtsilä’s order intake in Q1, 2022.
The Borg El Arab plant currently operates with four Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas, the cleanest of all widely available fuels. As a result of increased industrial demand for electricity in the region, additional generating capacity is needed, and because of the reliability of the existing operation, an additional two Wärtsilä 34SG engines was deemed to be the optimal solution.
“Industrial growth is vital to the region’s economic development, and a reliable power supply is essential for driving this growth. We have been extremely satisfied with the efficiency and reliability of the Wärtsilä engines and the approach of Wärtsilä’s personnel in serving our needs to optimise our operations. This is why we had no hesitation in selecting Wärtsilä again for this plant expansion project,” said Magdi El Badry, Chairman & Managing Director of Kahraba.
“We have worked very closely with Kahraba in the past and are delighted to be working with them again on this important project. By operating the engines on locally available natural gas, the plant’s environmental footprint is lessened. Furthermore, the flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines will enable the system to incorporate increasing levels of energy from renewable sources,” commented Marc Thiriet, Director, Wärtsilä Energy, Africa West.
Egypt, which has one of the largest electricity grids on the African continent, is making increasing use of renewable energy. The government has set targets for renewables to comprise 42% of the country’s electricity mix by 2035, based on rapid solar and wind energy deployment. The fast-starting and stopping capabilities of Wärtsilä’s gas engines provide the grid balancing needed to compensate for the intermittency of renewables. Wärtsilä engines are ready to also operate on sustainable fuels in the future, once they become widely available, which makes them a future-proof solution. Already today Wärtsilä engines can use synthetic and carbon-neutral methane and methanol, and hydrogen blends. Sustainable fuels together with engines can take care of long-term energy storage needs for periods with persistently low wind or solar conditions.
Kahraba is one of Egypt’s most prominent IPP companies and the country’s only authorised private buyer and seller of gas. Wärtsilä has earlier delivered a number of power generating projects for Kahraba and other subsidiaries of EKH. The extended Borg El Arab plant is expected to become fully operational in 2023.
Earlier published press release Wärtsilä gas engine solutions will support local industry by increasing Egyptian power plant’s capacity by two thirds
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Wärtsilä engine power plants
Media contact for more information on this release:
Mirja-Maija Santala
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Wärtsilä Energy
Mob: +358 400 793 827
mirja-maija.santala@wartsila.com
Image: Wärtsilä 34SG engine generating sets in an engine hall
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All Wärtsilä releases are available at https://www.wartsila.com/media/news-releases and at http://news.cision.com/wartsila-corporation where also the images can be downloaded.
Wärtsilä Energy in brief
Wärtsilä Energy leads the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. We help our customers in decarbonisation by developing market-leading technologies. These cover future-fuel enabled balancing power plants, hybrid solutions, energy storage and optimisation technology, including the GEMS energy management platform. Wärtsilä Energy’s lifecycle services are designed to increase efficiency, promote reliability and guarantee operational performance. Our track record comprises 76 GW of power plant capacity and 110 energy storage systems delivered to 180 countries around the world.
https://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 their environmental and economic performance. Our dedicated and passionate team of 17,000 professionals in more than 200 locations in 68 countries shape the decarbonisation transformation of our industries across the globe. In 2021, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 4.8 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
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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
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