Wartsila to Switch Brazilian Power Plant from Diesel to Gas
Finnish firm Wartsila has won a contract to convert the UTE Ponta Negra power plant in Manaus, Brazil, to run on natural gas instead of diesel fuel, it announced on December 17.
The contract was received from Geradora de Energia do Amazonas (Gera Amazonas) and was booked by Wartsila in September. The Ponta Negra plant currently has five Wartsila 46GD gas-diesel engines but these will be converted to Wartsila 50SG engines powered with gas, increasing overall generation capacity from 85 to 91 MW.
The conversion will begin in May 2021 and finish in the spring 2022. It will reduce emissions by 35,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent/year, Wartsila said.
Commenting, Gera Amazonas director Alcio Adler said the revamp would enable the company to negotiate and renew its power purchase agreement with the Brazilian regulatory agency. It has also renewed an operation and maintenance contract with Wartsila.