Mon, 04/27/2015 - 10:34

(27 April 2015)—Wärtsilä has received orders to supply two Smart Power Generation power plants for Rural Areas Electricity Company (RAECO) in Oman. The power plants, with a combined capacity of 104 MW, will supply electricity to rural areas in southeastern Oman, outside the national grid. The power stations will operate in extreme conditions of up to 52 Celsius degrees. The larger of the two power plants will be located on the island of Masirah on Oman's eastern coast. The Masirah plant will consist of seven Wärtsilä 32 engines, having a combined output of 56 MW. The other power plant, to be located in Saih Al Khairat, will have six Wärtsilä 32 engines with a total output of 48 MW. Both units will be operated using light fuel oil and are scheduled to be operational in 2016. "These projects support our strategy of providing reliable distributed capacity with Smart Power Generation technology. They also illustrate our performance in hot and dry conditions," said Lars-Åke Kjell, Regional Director of Wärtsilä Power Plants. Wärtsilä's internal combustion engines maintain high efficiency in extreme temperatures, and their water consumption is negligible. Wärtsilä recently announced a 120 MW distributed power generation project in the Musandam governorate of northern Oman. The Masirah contract was included in Wärtsilä's order intake in Q4 2014, whereas Saif al Khairat was booked in Q3 2014. Wärtsilä's total installed capacity in the Middle East is approximately 7000 MW.