Wärtsilä to supply 73 MW extension for gas-fired power plant in Turkey

The equipment will be delivered during the coming months, and the extended power plant is scheduled to be operational by December 2017. Wärtsilä's scope is the equipment supply. The order is booked in the first quarter of 2017.

The order comprises four Wärtsilä 50SG engines running on natural gas. This fast-track delivery is for the extension to an existing 128 MW Wärtsilä power plant built in 2011 in Samsun, on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. The capacity of the plant was extended to 145 MW in 2013, and was built to operate mainly in baseload mode to supply reliable power to the grid. When this latest extension is completed, it will mainly be for grid stability operations. The reliability of the Turkish power system is very much dependent on having sufficient flexible power available for grid stability. Operational flexibility and the capability to start-up the power plant quickly were the main reasons for selecting ultra-flexible Wärtsilä internal combustion engines for this extension project. Another key reason is that Yesilurt has been very satisfied with the operational performance of the original power plant built in 2011.Yesilurt recognises that operating a gas-fuelled power plant in the Turkish energy market has good potential for profits.

"We wanted to continue working with Wärtsilä as we have been very happy with our project from 2011. The power plant is working very reliably. Additionally we see great potential in having flexible gas power available for grid stability operations," says Mr Ozkan ORAL, Plant Manager at Yesilurt.

"It is an honour to deliver this extension to Yesilurt, a customer that we value highly. They play a key role in the Turkish power system, and the reliability and performance of our plants is an important factor in this," says Yucel Hurkal General Manager at Wärtsilä Energy Solutions in Turkey.

Wärtsilä has a well established footprint in Turkey with an installed base and projects under construction of more than 4 500 MW. Globally, Wärtsilä's installed power plant base is 63 GW in 176 countries.