Piston power |


Wärtsilä supplies engines for hybrid power plant in Kazakhstan…


Wärtsilä is to supply engines plus other engineered equipment for a new 120 MW power plant under construction in Kazakhstan. The order was placed by Kazakhstan Caspian Offshore Industries (KCOI) and the order scope includes six Wärtsilä 46TS-SG gas-fuelled large bore engines, as well as mechanical and electrical auxiliary equipment.


KCOI is the main contractor for the project, entailing development of a major hybrid power plant in the Mangystau region, which in addition to the reciprocating engine based generating


capacity, will also have 77 MW of wind power and 50 MW of solar PV.


When completed, the project will supply electrical power to oil and gas facilities in the region. The fast-starting Wärtsilä engines will provide the necessary secure and stable supply needed to compensate for the intrinsic fluctuation of electricity generation from renewable sources.


The piston based power plant is “essential to enable a stable and reliable supply of electricity, and the Wärtsilä engines will efficiently regulate


the frequency and voltage to ensure this reliability is achieved,” said Mirko Borghesi, CEO of KCOI.


Delivery of the Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for the end of 2025, and the power plant is expected to be fully operational by mid-2026. To achieve “widescale integration of power from renewable sources, grid balancing capabilities are necessary, and the Wärtsilä engines are ideally suited to provide this,” commented Kenneth Engblom, Vice President, Africa and Europe at Wärtsilä Energy.


Wärtsilä is supplying six 46TS-SG gas fuelled engines plus other “engineered equipment” for a new 120 MW recip based power plant under construction in Kazakhstan. The plant will be part of a hybrid facility, with 77 MW of wind power and 50 MW of PV (image: Wärtsilä)


…and for balancing in Finland


Wärtsilä and Tornion Voima, subsidiary of EPV Energy, are building a new 43 MW piston based power plant that will be Finland’s “first to provide balancing capacity to the power system upon completion.” With it, Tornion Voima “will be able to guarantee electricity production during various disturbances and varying weather conditions,” says Wärtsilä. Finland is already one of the world’s leading countries in terms of using renewable energy: its share of total energy consumption is over 40%, and the goal is to increase this share to 50% in the course of the 2020s, with wind and solar enjoying particularly rapid growth. The availability of wind and solar power is inherently variable and maintaining high power supply reliability even during cloudy and low-wind weather requires flexible and


reliable electricity production capacity. For this, a modern piston based power plant is the best option, argues Wärtsilä’s Kenneth Engblom: “It can be started quickly, only when needed and only for as long as necessary.” In addition, piston based power generation “has the best average efficiency in these types of operating conditions,” he notes.


According to the Finnish energy system modelling published by Wärtsilä in April 2024, the introduction of flexible and reliable electricity production capacity would not only increase the system’s reliability but also affect the development of electricity prices. The model suggests that Finnish electricity users could save up to 1.3 billion euros per year if such capacity were increased by 2 GW by 2030.


36 | January/February 2025| www.modernpowersystems.com


At the new Tornio power plant, natural gas will be used as the main fuel in the initial phase of production. Only a small amount is needed for the balancing of electricity production and existing regional gas infrastructure will be utilised.


A transition to sustainable fuels is envisaged later on. Wärtsilä notes that its engines are already capable of running on sustainable fuels and will do so as soon as they become widely available.


Construction work on the power plant, located within area of Outokumpu’s Tornio steelworks (Röyttä port), will begin this autumn. The power plant is scheduled to be commissioned in February 2026. Wärtsilä will be responsible for construction from spring 2025 until completion of the power plant.


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