News from Wärtsilä: agreement in Brazil and a new milestone for GridSolvum

Wärtsilä has signed an Operations & Maintenance agreement with Brazilian utility Rio Amazonas Energia (RAESA) to provide full operations and maintenance support for the Cristiano Rocha power plant in Manaus, Brazil. The agreement serves to strengthen the relationship already in place between Wärtsilä and RAESA, which entered into a Guarantee Asset Performance agreement in November 2019 to assist the plant to run with 100% natural gas. The O&M agreement went into effect on February 1, 2023 and will last 28 months.

The Cristiano Rocha power plant operates five Wärtsilä 50SG gas engines with a combined net output of 92 MW. The fast-starting and stopping ability of Wärtsilä’s engine technology allows full output to be reached in just minutes, ensuring not only a stable and reliable electricity supply but also grid stability. The Cristiano Rocha power plant contributes 65 MW of energy to the Brazilian grid through a power purchase agreement with Eletronorte.

Wärtsilä GridSolv Quantum passes UL 9540A requirements

Wärtsilä has passed a significant milestone in ensuring the safety of its energy storage system (ESS), GridSolv Quantum, by successfully completing UL 9540A unit-level testing.

Fire safety is a major priority for the energy storage industry and Wärtsilä’s ESSs are designed to meet stringent safety and quality standards. The rigorous testing involved intentionally heating a cell to induce thermal runaway within a Wärtsilä ESS module. Performing these tests reveals important information to the manufacturer, first responders and asset owner about how the system will react in the highly unlikely event of a cell failure. These test results solidify Wärtsilä’s position as a market leader in the manufacturing of safe, compliant battery systems.

Wärtsilä’s GridSolv Quantum technology passed all performance requirements for Outdoor Ground Mounted equipment per UL 9540A by proving that, if battery cells within a module go into thermal runaway, it would not spread to other modules or, in worst case, other adjacent units. Overall, the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) of the ESS remained below 25%, with no risk of deflagration. No explosion hazards were exhibited by the product, and no flaming occurred beyond the outer dimensions of the ESS. Due to these industry-leading results, Wärtsilä can now install units less than ten feet away from building lines and public ways per current fire codes and standards.