Wärtsilä, a supplier of flexible and efficient power plant solutions, has been awarded two contracts to supply power plant generating equipment to Bangladesh. The total overall output of these two plants will be more than 200 MW, and they will produce electricity to be supplied to the national grid. In each case, delivery will be made on a fast-track basis in order to meet the tight construction schedules. Both plants are scheduled to be operational before the end of 2012. The orders are included in the fourth quarter 2011 order book.
PowerPac Mutiara Jamalpur Power Plant Ltd, an independent power producer (IPP), has ordered twelve 20-cylinder Wärtsilä 32 generating sets with a total output of approximately 100 MW. The new power plant will operate initially on heavy fuel oil (HFO), but the engines are ready to switch to gas operation when a supply of natural gas becomes available. The same owner - PowerPac-Mutiara Consortium - has also ordered six 18-cylinder Wärtsilä 46 engines in V-configuration and auxiliary equipment for its Khulna power plant project. The output of the Khulna power plant will be over 100 MW.
"These are important orders, for Wärtsilä of course, but also for the Bangladesh Power Development Board, which urgently needs this additional generating capacity. Our ability to supply the needed equipment within a very short time-frame was crucial to the award of these contracts, as was our strong track record in Bangladesh. Furthermore, a unique feature of our engine technology is that where required, they can be easily converted to run on gas as soon as a gas supply is available, and this too was a key factor in the award of these contracts. Wärtsilä employs nearly 500 people in the country, and as a result, can give unmatched support to all Wärtsilä installations throughout the region," says Göran Richardsson, Sales Director, Wärtsilä Power Plants Asia.
With these two power plants, Wärtsilä currently already has in excess of 1850 MW of installed or to be installed power generating capacity in Bangladesh. One-third of this is also operated and maintained under contract by Wärtsilä.