Wärtsilä to supply Africa's largest purely ga...
Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade & Technical Press release, 4 July 2011
This will be the largest power plant running exclusively on gas engines to be
installed on the African continent, and the first of its kind ever in the
Republic of South Africa. Having the capability to supply the complete turnkey
package enabled Wärtsilä to provide valuable time schedule and performance
guarantees for the project at the demanding altitude of 1700 meters.
Wärtsilä, a leading global supplier of flexible power plants and services to the
global power generation market, is to supply and construct a complete power
plant in South Africa for Sasol New Energy Holdings, the company responsible for
Low Carbon Electricity in Sasol, an integrated global energy and chemical
company. Wärtsilä's scope of supply comprises the turnkey delivery of the
complete power plant, including engineering, procurement and contracting. It
will be powered by 18 Wärtsilä 20V34SG generating sets running on natural gas,
with an output of 180 MW. The order is included in Wärtsilä's order book during
the second quarter 2011.
The turnkey power plant will be installed at the company's facilities in
Sasolburg, south of Johannesburg. It will generate baseload electricity for the
company's own use, with excess production being eventually wheeled through the
national grid.
In addition to enabling the customer to reduce its operating costs, the new gas
engine-based power plant will notably reduce the company's carbon footprint in
the area. Another key environmental factor is that the Wärtsilä solution
operates with a closed circuit cooling system, thus consuming absolutely no
water. This is very important in a region where water is scarce.
"Wärtsilä's ability to meet the customer's needs regarding high operating
efficiency, low generating costs and strong environmental sustainability, was
the key factor in being awarded this contract by Sasol New Energy Holdings. We
have been able to comply with the very stringent quality and HSE standards
required by oil and gas industry regulations. This was confirmed by thorough
quality audit held in Wärtsilä," says Tony van Velzen, Regional Director,
Africa, Wärtsilä Power Plants.
"Low Carbon Electricity Generation is a key driver for Sasol to meet its
environmental sustainability targets as well as to reduce its cost base for its
electricity demand," said Henri Loubser, Managing Director of Sasol New Energy
Holdings. "Thus the selection of a suitable long term partner with a strong
commitment to supporting these needs is vital to Sasol New Energy."
The efficiency of the Wärtsilä gas engines is especially important, as the
Sasolburg plant is located at an altitude of 1700 metres. Despite of this
altitude, gas engines can operate extremely efficiently.
Wärtsilä South Africa has its local headquarter in Cape Town since 1994 where it
employs close to 50 employees including mechanics, service engineers, spare
parts co-ordinators and Services sales team. Wärtsilä has also workshop in
Durban, Namibia, and in Madagascar Wärtsilä South Africa is operating a 24 MW
power plant for a mining compound totalling 80 employees in Southern Africa
operations. Its main activities consist of servicing all present installations
mainly for the marine industry and manage the operation and maintenance of
various power plants in the SADEC region, including Madagascar, Angola and
Zambia.
 By the end of 2010, Wärtsilä has delivered 4,500 power plants in 168 countries
totalling over 47 GW.
For further information, please contact:
Tony van Velzen
Regional Director, Africa
Wärtsilä Power Plants
Tel: +31 6 5345 2008
e-mail:tony.vanvelzen@wartsila.com
Teppo Suominen
Director, Service Unit East Africa
Wärtsilä South Africa Pty Ltd
Tel: +27 83 448 8353
e-mail:teppo.suominen@wartsila.com
Tuula Franck
Senior Manager, Media and Stakeholder Relations
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: +358Â 400 267555
e-mail:tuula.franck@wartsila.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 maximises the environmental and economic performance of the
vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2010, Wärtsilä's net sales
totalled EUR 4.6 billion with more than 17,500 employees. The company has
operations in 160 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed
on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.www.wartsila.com
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Source: Wärtsilä Oyj Abp via Thomson Reuters ONE
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