Wärtsilä Corporation has in December 2006, been awarded a contract by AzerEnerji, the Azerbaijan national electricity company, to deliver a multi-fuelled generating plant for a 300 MWe power plant to be located at Sangachal, 50 km south of the capital Baku.
The plant will be equipped with 18 generating sets each powered by an 18-cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF engine, delivering 17 MW. Wärtsilä will also deliver the power plant design, other principal equipment and all building materials, while undertaking supervision of the building and equipment installation. In addition Wärtsilä undertakes the training of AzerEnerji operating and service personnel for a period of 2 years. The plant is scheduled to be fully operational in October 2008. All electrical power will be fed directly to the Azerbaijan national grid.
The Wärtsilä 50DF engines give the plant considerable fuel flexibility. The engines will primarily run on natural gas, with a small quantity of pilot liquid fuel for ignition. However, it will also be possible to switch the engines over to heavy fuel oil if there is a problem with the gas supply, and the engines can also use light fuel oil. The engines will deliver the same power on all three fuels.
This is the sixth AzerEnerji plant contracted with Wärtsilä. In 2005, AzerEnerji ordered five power plants with a combined output of 450 MWe, all based on multiple Wärtsilä 34SG gas-engined generating sets. The power plants, located in Astara, Baku, Khachmaz, Nakhivan and Sheki, have all been commissioned during 2006.
The selection of Wärtsilä power plants gives AzerEnerji and its customers benefits in rapid building of generating capacity, with stability, reliability and economy of electricity supply.
Azerbaijan has an installed generating capacity of about 5000 MWe but with a high utilization factor. Many of the plants are more than 40 years old. Additional capacity needed to be added rapidly. The Wärtsilä power plants could be delivered quickly adding some 15% to the national grid capacity. Furthermore their gas-fuelled engines, whether Wärtsilä 34SG or Wärtsilä 50DF, can take advantage of the plentiful natural resources in Azerbaijan. The plants have a high overall economy owing to the engines’ high fuel efficiency and their ability to run at a high load as the sets can be quickly started and stopped as necessary to follow the changing electricity demand.
Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä enhances the business of its customers by providing them with complete lifecycle power solutions. When creating better and environmentally compatible technologies, Wärtsilä focuses on the marine and energy markets with products and solutions as well as services. Through innovative products and services, Wärtsilä sets out to be the most valued business partner of all its customers. This is achieved by the dedication of more than 13,000 professionals manning 130 Wärtsilä locations in close to 70 countries around the world.
For further information, please contact:
Maria Nystrand
Public Relations Manager, Power Plants
Wärtsilä Corporation
Direct tel: +358 10 709 1456
Direct fax: +358 10 709 1425
e-mail: maria.nystrand@wartsila.com
Internet: www.wartsila.com
