Natural gas instead of diesel fuel. Wärtsilä to convert a power plant in Brazil
Wärtsilä will be soon converting the UTE Ponta Negra power plant in the city of Manaus, Brazil. The aim is to make the power plant work on natural gas instead of diesel fuel. To remind you that the Finnish Group operates all over the world, here are some more powergen stories from Singapore and Finland. […]
Wärtsilä will be soon converting the UTE Ponta Negra power plant in the city of Manaus, Brazil. The aim is to make the power plant work on natural gas instead of diesel fuel. To remind you that the Finnish Group operates all over the world, here are some more powergen stories from Singapore and Finland.
According to the contract signed with GERA Amazonas (Geradora de Energia do Amazonas S/A), an independent energy producer controlled by FIP Vulcan, the plant currently operates on five Wärtsilä 46GD gas-diesel engines, which will be converted to Wärtsilä 50SG engines powered by natural gas, allowing an increase in power generation capacity from the current 85 to 91 MW. The conversion will enable the engines to be reset to zero hours of operation.
Figures and targets of the Wärtsilä project in Manaus, Brazil
Wärtsilä states that the use of 100 percent natural gas fuel will result in a reduction of 35,000 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (MTCDE) per year, equivalent to the pollution from some 7,600 cars. In addition, particulate matter emissions will also be significantly reduced. The conversion is scheduled to commence in May 2021 and be completed in spring 2022.
Besides, the plant, which was opened in 2006, has been operated and maintained by Wärtsilä for the past 12 years.
Maintenance on Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea
Talking about maintenance (here’s a post about a project based in Cambodia), Wärtsilä has also announced the sign of an agreement for a 10-year tailored guaranteed asset performance covering power plant maintenance and operations advisory services for a mine with Lihir Gold, part of Australia-based Newcrest Mining, one of the world’s largest gold mining companies. The mine is located on Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea.
The 170 MW power plant provides a critical electricity supply to run the operations of the mine. It has 22 Wärtsilä engines, of which the last one was commissioned in 2013. The partnership enables Lihir Gold to focus on gold production while Wärtsilä takes care of optimising the power plant performance. The agreement will also provide the customer with maintenance and parts cost predictability, including a reduction in working capital.
