Wärtsilä gas engine solutions will support local industry by increasing Egyptian power plant’s capacity by two thirds

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade press release, 29 July 2019, 1 PM EEST

The technology group Wärtsilä will supply additional capacity for an existing power plant located in Borg El Arab, an industrial city some 45 kilometres southwest of Alexandria, Egypt. The plant is owned and operated by the National Electricity Technology company, Kahraba, a part of the Egypt Kuwait Holdings (EKH) Group. Kahraba is one of the largest private electricity service providers in Egypt. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in June 2019.

The engineering and equipment (EEQ) contract is for two Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas fuel. The engines will have a combined output of 19MW and will increase the plant’s capacity by two thirds.

This additional utility grid capacity is needed to support the area’s growing industrial base. The existing plant runs on three Wärtsilä 34SG engines.

“The local industries impose increasing demand on power capacity. The Wärtsilä engines will help alleviate this situation and will enable us to deliver a reliable electricity supply to our customers, thus supporting industrial growth in the area. To extend the power plant with proven Wärtsilä design was a natural choice” says Ahmed Nassr-Eldin Khaled, Deputy Technical General Manager, Kahraba.

“Our smart power generation technology will provide added flexibility, as well as capacity to the local grid here. Furthermore, the low noise specification for the radiators, plus the fact that the engines will operate on domestic natural gas, will enhance the plant’s environmental footprint,” says Magnus Miemois, Regional Director, Wärtsilä Energy Business.

The new equipment will be delivered to the site in January 2020, and the extended facility is expected to become operational towards the end of that year. EKH Group also operates an older plant with Wärtsilä engines.

Egypt has one of the largest electricity grids on the African continent. In recent years, there have been significant additions of large centralised generation capacity to the Egyptian grid, and the use of renewable energy sources is growing rapidly. The government has set targets for renewables to make up 42% of the country's electricity mix by 2035, based on rapid solar and wind energy deployment.

With an increasing share of renewable energy sources, the grid will need more flexible generation capacity. The power plant in Borg el Arab with Wärtsilä gas engines provides flexibility, which allows to integrate more renewables into the grid.

Links to more information:
Wärtsilä gas power plants

Caption: Two Wärtsilä 20V34SG engines running on natural gas will add capacity to the Egyptian grid and provide the flexibility needed for integrating renewable energy sources. 

Wärtsilä releases are available at https://www.wartsila.com/media/news-releases and at http://news.cision.com/wartsila-corporation where also the images can be downloaded.

For further information, please contact:

Magnus Miemois
Regional Director, Sales
Wärtsilä Energy Business
Mob. +358 50 558 1405
Magnus.Miemois@wartsila.com

Noora Arantola
Communications
Wärtsilä Energy Business
Tel. +358 10 7090000
noora.arantola@wartsila.com

Wärtsilä Energy Business in brief
Wärtsilä Energy Business is leading the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. As an energy system integrator, we understand, design, build and serve optimal power systems for future generations. Wärtsilä’s solutions provide the needed flexibility to integrate renewables and secure power system reliability. Our offering comprises engine-based flexible power plants – including liquid gas systems – hybrid solar power plants, energy management systems and storage and integration solutions. We support our customers over the lifecycle of their installations with services that enable increased efficiency and guaranteed performance. Wärtsilä has 70 GW of installed power plant capacity in 177 countries around the world.
www.wartsila.com/energy 

Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2018, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 5.2 billion with approximately 19,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
www.wartsila.com