Wärtsilä is to supply a 92 MW gas-fired baseload power plant to Sullair Argentina. The equipment delivery project includes Wärtsilä 50SG engines running on natural gas. The order is worth approximately €30 million and is one of five contracts that Wärtsilä was recently awarded in Argentina.
The country is suffering from energy shortage owing to a history of widespread subsidies that have distorted the energy price and regulations that have complicated investments in power generation and distribution. Now the government is seeking to remedy the issue by investing heavily in new capacity, with an emphasis on increasing efficiency and adding renewable energy.
Sullair Argentina was awarded the Caimancito power plant project in the CAMMESA governmental bid in Argentina.
"The government was originally tendering for dual-fuel engines but we offered an alternative solution with Wärtsilä's gas engines and we won. Wärtsilä had engines in stock and they promised that the plant would be operational within a year," commented Luis Vago, director of Operations at Sullair.
The Caimacinto site is in the northwest of Argentina and reinforces the grid in the area. Due to the long distances and the weight and height constraints along the road, Wärtsilä's engines will be transported to the site in parts and be reassembled there. The area where the plant will be situated is hot and rainy which presents additional challenges for the project team.
The equipment is expected to be delivered during 2016 and the plant will be fully operational by June 2017.
