Wärtsilä's Power Plant For S. Arabian desert

Wärtsilä has received an order to supply a turnkey power plant for Saudi Arabia. The order was placed by Umm Al-Qura Cement Company in May 2014. The 47 MW captive power plant will be located in the mountain desert close to Taif city. The equipment will be fast-track delivered by February 2015 and the project will enter commercial operation by October 2015. The power plant will serve a cement factory in extreme conditions of temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius and an altitude above 1000 metres.

The power plant consists of five 20-cylinder Wärtsilä 32TS engines, a new 2-stage turbocharged version of the market-leading Wärtsilä 32 series. This new engine is designed to operate at outstanding efficiency even in extreme ambient conditions, such as high ambient temperatures and high altitudes. The new version delivers reduced fuel consumption while complying with the World Bank EHS (Environment, Health and Safety) guidelines for NOx emissions.

“This engine is tailor-made for hot conditions. That’s why we call it the ‘sauna’ engine. It is a result of our commitment to the extensive and long term development work of engine technology,” says Lars-Åke Kjell, Regional Director at Wärtsilä Power Plants. “The Umm Al-Qura contract strengthens our leading position in Saudi Arabia. Wärtsilä already supplies four out of five power installations in the cement industry in the country.” With this project, Wärtsilä has more than 1600 MW of installed power plant capacity in Saudi Arabia.