The technology group Wärtsilä and Empresa Generadora de Electricidad Haina (EGE Haina), one of the largest power generation companies in the Dominican Republic, have signed a commissioning agreement that converts the Quisqueya 2 power plant to natural gas operation. The 215 MW Flexicycle plant was installed in 2013, and is powered by 12 Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines. The engines have been liquid-optimised until now as only heavy fuel oil (HFO) has been available. As natural gas is soon to become available, and with the execution of this conversion project, the plant will be re-commissioned to run on gas. The commissioning project contract was signed in September 2019.

The conversion will lessen the power plant’s environmental impact with exhaust emissions being greatly reduced. It will also allow the plant to be a major provider of electricity and ancillary services to the national grid. Quisqueya 2 is a flexible baseload plant operating under a power purchase agreement (PPA), whereby the utility agrees to supply electricity to the national grid.

“Our company celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with plans to continue investing in sustainable energy towards 2030 with the development of 1,400 MW of renewable power generation and natural gas. Switching to natural gas in Quisqueya 2 is critical to our future operations, both for the plant’s environmental sustainability and because of the new PPA. We appreciate the support from Wärtsilä for this important project,” said José A. Rodríguez, Development Director, EGE Haina.

“Wärtsilä 50DF engines are capable of running on different fuels, so with natural gas now becoming available for Quisqueya 2 it is time to enable dual-fuel operation. The re-commissioning is straightforward and the plant will soon operate with clean natural gas,” commented Sampo Suvisaari, Energy Business Director, Latin America North, Wärtsilä Energy Business.

The project is expected to be completed by mid-2020.

Long-term service agreement

The two companies have also signed a long-term service agreement covering all the Wärtsilä power plants owned and/or operated by EGE Haina. The agreement was signed in October 2019 and runs until the end of 2022. It will allow accurate predictability of spare part and maintenance costs for the Quisqueya 2, Sultana del Este, and Palenque power plants. The total installed capacity of the three plants is approximately 400 MW.

The Sultana del Este plant operates on nine Wärtsilä 46 engines, while the Palenque plant runs with four Wärtsilä Vasa 32LN engines.

“This agreement allows us to have accurate budgeting for the maintenance and servicing of these plants, covering both scheduled servicing and unscheduled repairs. It also enhances the reliability of our electric supply to the national grid. Wärtsilä has the needed experience, which means that we can concentrate on our core business,” noted Rodríguez.

“Wärtsilä’s service agreements form an integral part of its lifecycle support approach to providing efficient, reliable and safe power plant operations. They facilitate planning and provide predictability of costs, and are tailored to accommodate the particular needs of the customer. We provide support from our global network of Wärtsilä Expertise Centres to ensure that potential downtime is minimised, and these agreements simply make sense in so many ways,” added Marc Tarbox, General Manager, Agreements and Project Sales in Americas, Wärtsilä Energy Business.