Flexible power plant provides reliability with sustainable fuels in The Great Lakes state

When the temperature drops to –40 degrees Celsius, blackouts are not an option. In order to secure a reliable energy supply and enable more renewable energy, Marquette Board of Light and Power (MBLP) in Michigan, USA, opted for Wärtsilä Smart Power Generation technology. As an added benefit, the ultra-flexible power plant provides a new source of income by following real-time electricity prices. The dual-fuel plant replaces old coal-fired capacity.

Marquette, a town of some 20,000 people in northern Michigan, sits at the end of the region’s transmission line. Until now, the town has relied on two coal units and some hydro power, with about 10 percent of the town’s electricity imported from a utility further south. The coal units, however, are getting old.

“That is a big part of the driver to install these Wärtsilä units. We had to take care of our own reliability since we couldn’t depend on the outside world anymore. We’re living on the ragged edge, and if we continue doing that we’ll be like some other communities that go black for several hours a day, but that’s unacceptable when it’s minus 40 degrees Celsius,” says Paul Kitti, Executive Director, Marquette Board of Light and Power (MBLP).