Recip round-up |
Commissioning of Wärtsilä power plant helps to balance Japanese grid
The 100 MW Sodegaura power plant in Japan, equipped with ten Wärtsilä 34SG reciprocating engines, has been successfully handed over to Tokyo Gas Engineering Solutions (TGES). The Wärtsilä engines provide the needed flexibility to enable critical grid balancing as Japan strives to increase its share of renewable energy. The plant was built by TGES on behalf of its parent company Tokyo Gas, which will own and operate the facility. The plant is located in Sodegaura city in Chiba Prefecture, and it will play a key role in supporting the company’s participation in Japan’s balancing market and newly launched capacity market.
“This gas engine power plant will be used as a balancer, responding to fluctuations in renewable energy supply and electricity demand. Wärtsilä’s engines have excellent ramp-up capability to provide the needed balancing power for an increasing share of renewables in the power generation mix. We expect this balancing power plant to play a significant role in the Japanese electricity market,” commented Tadashi Ishizaka, Executive Officer and General Manager of the Power Business Department, Energy Trading Company, Tokyo Gas. According to its 7th Strategic Energy Plan, Japan is working towards a major shift in its
power mix, looking towards achieving 40-50% renewable energy by 2040.
The new cross-regional balancing market in Japan was launched in 2021 by the governmental power market authority. The purpose of the balancing market is to bridge the gap between energy demand and supply during times when fluctuating renewable energy is being introduced into the system. By being able to reach full output within minutes of start-up, Wärtsilä’s piston based technology delivers the flexibility needed to compensate for fluctuations in wind and solar power generation.
Sodegaura power plant, Japan. Photo © Tokyo Gas
“Wärtsilä’s strategy is centred around the need to decarbonise power generation, and through our various technologies, we are shaping the power sector’s efforts in this direction. We are delighted to support Tokyo Gas with our flexible gas engine technology as increasing levels of renewables are integrated into the power system and Japan is moving towards sustainable power production,” said Nicolas Leong, Energy Business Director, North & Southeast Asia at Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä has established a strong relationship with Tokyo Gas over the years. To date TGES has installed 39 Wärtsilä gas engines at various locations and Wärtsilä says that since the early 2000s “the two companies have held regular MTBF (mean time between failures) meetings aimed at optimising plant efficiencies.”
Caterpillar behind the meter
Under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA), Alectra Energy Solutions, in collaboration with Caterpillar, has deployed twelve Cat® G3500 series natural-gas fuelled gensets for behind-the-meter (BTM) power generation at Linamar’s diversified manufacturing facilities in Guelph and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The project, which follows expansion of Caterpillar’s integrated offering with Alectra, will enable Linamar Corporation, a diversified manufacturing
company, to reduce energy costs during periods of peak grid demand through the deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs). The project included construction financing facilitated by Cat Financial, while the local dealer, Toromont Cat, completed the engineering, procurement, and construction. The turnkey power systems are dispatched through Caterpillar’s distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) software.
Cat® G3500 engine. Photo: Caterpillar
Bergen Engines to power new cogen plant in Romania
Bergen Engines, producer of medium speed engines for power generation, has announced a new order from Loial Impex SRL for four B35:40V16AG2 gensets to be installed in a new 30MW cogeneration plant in the city of Oradea, Western Romania.
Bergen B35:40V engine
The full scope of the project includes “providing new solutions for heat and electricity
36 | May 2025|
www.modernpowersystems.com
production”, while lowering pollution and improving energy efficiency in meeting the heat requirements of the district heating system serving Oradea.
Formerly Rolls-Royce Bergen Engines, on 31 December 2021, the company became part of the privately owned British engineering group, Langley Holdings plc.
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