The power plants are being developed by Dongfang Electric International Corporation, a Chinese state-owned enterprise specialising in power generation and energy project developments. The plants are being built on a fast-track basis in order to meet Angola's pressing need for more electrical capacity. The order with Wärtsilä was booked in August 2017.
The three new baseload plants will be located in Luena, Benguela and Saurimo, and will each have an electrical output of approximately 23 MW. The prime movers consist of four Wärtsilä 32 engines running on light fuel oil (LFO). The electricity generated will be fed to the national grid to help alleviate shortages and boost the country's social and economic development.
The plants are expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2018, and Wärtsilä is scheduled to begin the delivery of the generating sets in the first quarter of 2018. The ability of Wärtsilä to comply with this aggressive delivery schedule was cited as being a key factor in the award of the contract. Wärtsilä will also provide technical assistance during the installation and commissioning of the three plants.
"In today's fast moving world, having the flexibility to adapt to the customer's delivery requirements, no matter how challenging, gives Wärtsilä a strong competitive edge. At the same time, we are honoured to be a partner in these projects since they are important to the future development of Angola," commented Mark Zoeters, Business Development Manager, Africa East, Wärtsilä Energy Solutions.
"We greatly appreciate Wärtsilä's cooperation and support. We have worked with the company earlier and have had good experience, both with the equipment and their reliability to deliver on-time," added Wen Ya, General Manager, M&E Div.II, Dongfang Electric International Corporation.
Wärtsilä and Dongfang Electric Corporation have earlier cooperated in a similar project in the Maldives. With this recently signed contract, Wärtsilä now has an installed base of 7,1 GW in Africa.