The technology group Wärtsilä will supply a flexible baseload 200 MW power plant to a country in the Northern Andes. The flexibility of the efficient yet fast-starting Wärtsilä solution will provide the grid balancing capability that is essential with increasing amounts of intermittent wind and solar power generation entering the power systems. At the same time, it will serve as a capacity plant to back up the system in cases of shortage. The contract was signed in June.

Commercial operation is scheduled to commence at the end of 2021. When operational, the 200 MW plant will supply electricity to the national grid. The plant will be powered by 11 Wärtsilä 50SG engines running on natural gas. Wärtsilä is supplying and installing the plant on a full engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis. Gonzalo Granda, Business Development Manager, Wärtsilä Energy said: “This is an important step for Wärtsilä, as we are continuing to expand from our traditional markets in this region to a new key segment: flexible baseload. We are happy to have this customer taking a major step in investing in this project.”

Sampo Suvisaari, Energy Business Director for Latin America North, Wärtsilä Energy said: “The plant will be yet another example of a best-in-class Wärtsilä flexible baseload solution in a system with a high share of renewable energy. We are on a path to a 100 percent renewable energy future, which means that fast-starting and efficient load following flexibility will be increasingly needed to balance the power systems. It was also remarkable that the construction contract was negotiated remotely from start to finish.”