Wärtsilä, a leading global supplier of flexible and efficient power plant solutions, has been contracted to engineer, supply and install a major power plant to Jordan.
The order has been placed by AES Corporation, a US based independent power producer that owns and operates a diverse portfolio of electricity generation and distribution businesses around the world. The value of the contract is EUR 184 million.
The IPP4 Al-Manakher power plant is to be installed next to the existing power plant of AES in Amman, Jordan on a fast-track, turnkey basis, and is scheduled to be fully operational by July 2014. The power plant will supply electricity to the country’s national grid. The power plant will be running on a total of 16 Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines.
It will be capable of using heavy fuel oil (HFO), distillate (DFO) or natural gas as fuel. It is expected that initially the plant will operate using HFO, but the fuel flexibility of Wärtsilä’s engine technology will enable a seamless transfer to environmentally sustainable natural gas operation once the infrastructure for a natural gas supply is in place.
This power plant order is the latest that Wärtsilä has received from Jordan within a short period of time. The government of Jordan is currently re-structuring and upgrading its national electricity grid to ensure that a reliable power supply is available throughout the country.
This will be the third power plant that Wärtsilä has delivered to the country. A 50 MW plant is already in use and is being operated and maintained by Wärtsilä personnel under an Operations & Maintenance agreement. A 573 MW power plant project is under construction and is expected to be operational in 2014.
“There are a number of reasons why Wärtsilä was successful in winning this valuable contract,” says Vesa Riihimäki, President, Wärtsilä Power Plants. “The prime reason, however, is our industry leading tri-fuel technology that provides the customer with operational and fuel flexibility, high output efficiency, and proven reliability. Furthermore, our ability to deliver this large turnkey project within a 17 month time frame was a major reason for Wärtsilä being awarded this contract.”
AES has a number of projects with Wärtsilä power plant solutions, with three other power plants either already installed or in the process of being installed, in Africa.
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LNG World News Staff, January 02, 2013; Image: Wartsila