Wärtsilä has further enhance its relationship with one of Egypt’s major independent power producers (IPPs) with the confirmation of a new order.

Under a contract placed by Kahraba, a subsidiary of Egypt Kuwait Holding (EKH), Wärtsilä will deliver new generating equipment to add approximately 20MW of output to the existing Borg El Arab power plant located some 45 km southwest of Alexandria, Egypt. Wärtsilä will also upgrade the existing 40MW plant with the latest generation control system. 

The Borg El Arab plant currently operates with four Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas, the cleanest of all widely available fuels. As a result of increased industrial demand for electricity in the region, additional generating capacity is needed, and because of the reliability of the existing operation, an additional two Wärtsilä 34SG engines was deemed to be the optimal solution.

Magdi El Badry, chairman & managing director of Kahraba, commented, “Industrial growth is vital to the region’s economic development, and a reliable power supply is essential for driving this growth. We have been extremely satisfied with the efficiency and reliability of the Wärtsilä engines and the approach of Wärtsilä’s personnel in serving our needs to optimise our operations. This is why we had no hesitation in selecting Wärtsilä again for this plant expansion project.”

Marc Thiriet, director, Wärtsilä Energy, Africa West, added, “We have worked very closely with Kahraba in the past and are delighted to be working with them again on this important project. By operating the engines on locally available natural gas, the plant’s environmental footprint is lessened. Furthermore, the flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines will enable the system to incorporate increasing levels of energy from renewable sources.”

The fast-starting and stopping capabilities of Wärtsilä’s gas engines provide the grid balancing needed to compensate for the intermittency of renewables. Wärtsilä engines are ready to also operate on sustainable fuels in the future, once they become widely available, which makes them a future-proof solution. Already today Wärtsilä engines can use synthetic and carbon-neutral methane and methanol, and hydrogen blends. Sustainable fuels together with engines can take care of long-term energy storage needs for periods with persistently low wind or solar conditions.