Wärtsilä has been awarded the contract to supply a 19 MW Smart Power Generation power plant to Montana-Dakota Utilities (MDU) in Sidney, Montana. New generation capacity is needed to meet the growing electricity demand in Montana-Dakota’s service area. The power plant will be fast-track delivered and is scheduled to be fully operational during the fall of 2015.
“The power plant will help to meet the increasing peak load requirements of our customers, as well as supporting a reliable supply of electricity to the region around the Bakken oilfields in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota,” said Alan Welte, MDU’s Director of Generation.
The power plant will add large internal combustion engine (ICE) based generation to Montana-Dakota Utilities’ portfolio. The plant will comprise of two Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas.
“These units were included as part of our generation resource planning process and were selected due to size and cost,” said Jay Skabo, vice president of electric supply for Montana-Dakota. “Other factors were the emissions profile, efficiency, anticipated maintenance profile and ease of construction.”
The vast shale oil reserves of the Bakken formation, along with the successful use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking have led to an unprecedented economic boom in Montana and North Dakota, and hence the significant growth in electricity use. In October 2014, Wärtsilä announced a contract with Basin Electric Power Cooperative for a 112 MW Smart Power Generation power plant to be installed in Williston, North-Dakota – also in the Bakken area.
Wärtsilä’s total installed generating capacity in the United States is currently some 2400 MW.
The contract with MDU was included in Wärtsilä’s order intake in Q4 2014.
Link to the 112 MW Williston contract press release
Download photo of Wärtsilä 34SG engine
For further information please contact:
Gary Groninger
Business Development Manager
Wärtsilä Energy Solutions
Tel: +1 913 523 5126
gary.groninger@wartsila.com
Juka-Pekka Niemi
General Manager, Marketing
Wärtsilä Energy Solutions
Tel: +358 10 709 0000
jukka-pekka.niemi@wartsila.com
Wärtsilä Power Plants in brief
Wärtsilä Power Plants is a leading global supplier of flexible baseload power plants of up to 600 MW operating on various gaseous and liquid fuels. Our portfolio includes unique solutions for peaking, reserve and load-following power generation, as well as for balancing intermittent power production. Wärtsilä Power Plants also provides LNG terminals and distribution systems. As of 2014, Wärtsilä has 56 GW of installed power plant capacity in 170 countries around the world.
www.smartpowergeneration.com
Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximizes the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2013, Wärtsilä's net sales totalled EUR 4.7 billion with approximately 18,700 employees. The company has operations in more than 200 locations in nearly 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.
www.wartsila.com