Benndale, Mississippi, USA
Cooperative Energy + Wärtsilä

Reference case

Sustainable power generation with the optimal balancing solution

Enabling an increase in variable generation with more flexible capacity that can rapidly start up when needed.

Intermittent renewable energy generation in the United States has seen a staggering 700% increase between 2008 and 2019, with solar and wind generation accounting for around 350 million MWh of power generation in 2019. The subsequent increase in variable generation means that flexibility is increasingly important in the energy system.


Cooperative Energy, a not-for-profit electricity cooperative covering 432,000 homes and businesses in the US state of Mississippi, was looking to upgrade one of its plants in order to help it supply affordable, flexible and reliable power. Wärtsilä’s comprehensive solution comprises a plant powered by two gas-fired Wärtsilä 31SG engine generating sets and covered by a 10-year service agreement.

WhoCooperative energy
What22,7 MW peaking gas power plant
WhereMississippi, USA
How2X20V31SG

 

This is what we achieved

22,7MW

Flexible power generation to integrate high levels of energy from renewable sources.

432K

Homes and businesses powered in Mississippi.

10 years

Optimised maintenance agreement.

I wanted to be satisfied with the technology and the people behind it, so we visited Wärtsilä’s factory and testing facilities and met the engineers. This is not just about a product, but the people. I needed to be comfortable with everyone involved in design, installation and maintenance. I was very impressed.

Jim Compton, President Emeritus of Cooperative Energy

How we did it

Challenge icon

Challenge

  • Efficient power generation in a market with increasing levels of renewables
  • Mitigate financial and timing risks in construction
  • Resilient and reliable generation in a hurricane-prone region
  • Maintain the plant and its performance over the lifecycle
Solution icon

Solution

  • Full EPC delivery
  • Wärtsilä plant integrated with customer’s system
  • A flexible Wärtsilä 31SG gas power plant with the ability to respond rapidly to continuously changing load patterns of systems with renewables
  • 10-year Wärtsilä Optimised maintenance service agreement
Benefit icon

Benefit

  • Efficient and flexible power supply with a reduced environmental footprint
  • One EPC supplier with full responsibility for both timelines and costs
  • Fast starting; ability to supply power to key facilities such as hospitals during a natural disaster
  • Ensure optimised plant performance and efficiency over the lifecycle

The main details

Customer Cooperative energy
Type Wärtsilä 31SG peaking gas plant
Where Mississippi, USA
Total output 22,7 MW
Fuel Natural gas
Scope EPC with 10-year maintenance services ageement
Delivery2020

 

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Related press releases

Wärtsilä & Uniper consortium to build 105 MW combined heat and power plant in Germany

May 14, 2020, 13:00 by Wärtsilä Corporation

The technology group Wärtsilä, in consortium with energy provider Uniper, has been contracted to deliver a 105 MW combined heat and power (CHP) gas engine plant to the city of Bremen, Germany. The order was placed by Bremen’s public utility swb Erzeugung GmbH und Co. KG in December 2019. For contractual reasons Wärtsilä announced the contract with limited information and distribution in an earlier press release in January 2020.

The plant will operate on nine Wärtsilä 31SG gas engines. Wärtsilä delivers the complete technical equipment for the nine generating sets, including the heat recovery system. When operational in mid-2022, heat from the plant will be able to supply the city of Bremen’s district heating network and feed electricity into the grid in Germany. It shall replace an existing coal-fired power plant, thereby supporting the ongoing energy transition in Germany towards flexible solutions. Specifically designed for flexible power generation, the Wärtsilä 31SG generating set is a tool allowing for the integration of high levels of energy from renewable sources. It creates a balancing link between power generation and consumption, thus providing effective system level resilience. The plant will operate in winter on flexible CHP mode with district heating and the heat storage at the power plant, and in summer on peaking load with heat storage, mostly working on the volatile power markets for day ahead and intraday.

The power plant comes with a Wärtsilä Guaranteed asset performance service agreement valid for three years with an option for seven more years. The agreement includes all maintenance services, performance guarantees, and training of swb Erzeugung’s personnel. The maintenance services provided by Wärtsilä will be supported by the company’s digital technologies, such as asset diagnostics as well remote monitoring and analysis.

“Efficient and sustainable power and heat generation is extremely important, both for our company and for the German energy sector in general. We are going to replace an outdated coal burning plant with a modern, clean, reliable and extremely efficient solution, which will provide the flexibility needed today,” said Jens-Uwe Freitag, chief Executive Officer of swb Erzeugung GmbH & Co. KG, Bremen.

Pekka Tolonen, Energy Business Director, Europe, Wärtsilä, said: “I am very satisfied that we have reached this milestone with our consortium partner Uniper, and also the customer has put their trust in our joint offering. This project marks the beginning of our joint endeavour to deliver very high-quality and future-proof solutions to the CHP market in Germany.”

The Wärtsilä 31SG is the first of a new generation of pure gas medium speed engines, designed to set a new benchmark in efficiency and overall environmental performance. The development of this engine is a direct result of Wärtsilä’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Wärtsilä 31SG features the best fuel economy of any engine in its class. At the same time, it maintains outstanding performance across the complete operating range. Its modular design enables a significant reduction in maintenance time and costs, thereby improving power availability while reducing the need for spare parts.

Wärtsilä has 1.300 employees across nine locations in Germany, providing sales and services for marine and energy solutions in its offices and workshops, and applying state-of-the-art equipment and technologies.

Image caption: Wärtsilä 31SG generating set.

Read more:
Wärtsilä 31SG medium-speed engine
Wärtsilä Lifecycle solutions for energy industry

Article in Twentyfour7: Energiewende - Germany's quest to achieve a 100 percent renewable energy future

Recent press releases on Wärtsilä engine power plant deliveries to Germany:
Wärtsilä provides efficient and flexible 90 MW power plant to supply electricity and district heating for Dresden, Germany
Wärtsilä to supply flexible 100 MW combined heat and power plant to Germany

For more information, please contact:

Frank Kettig
Business Development Manager
Wärtsilä Energy Business
Mob. +49 170 412 4474
Frank.kettig@wartsila.com

Mirja-Maija Santala
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Wärtsilä Energy Business
Mob: +358 400 793 827
mirja-maija.santala@wartsila.com


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 Business in brief 
Wärtsilä Energy Business leads the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. We help our customers unlock the value of the energy transition by optimising their energy systems and future-proofing their assets. Our offering comprises flexible power plants, energy management systems, and storage, as well as lifecycle services that ensure increased efficiency and guaranteed performance. Wärtsilä has delivered 72 GW of power plant capacity in 180 countries around the world.
https://www.wartsila.com/energy/

Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2019, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 5.2 billion with approximately 19,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. 
www.wartsila.com

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