Wärtsilä Power Plants honored with two awards at the Power-Gen Asia 2013 conference & exhibition and the Asian Power Awards 2013 event

Helsinki, Finland, 11-10-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — Wärtsilä Power Plants has been recognised with two awards for technical papers presented at the Power-Gen Asia 2013 conference & exhibition and the Asian Power Awards 2013 event.

At the Asian Power Awards 2013, an annual event that recognises “best-of-the-best” practices in Asia’s power generation and supply sectors, Wärtsilä received the Bronze award for the study “Improving Power System Efficiency with Fast Flexible Power – Case Thailand” in the Innovative Power Technology of the Year category. Wärtsilä also received the ’Highly Commended’ award for its conference paper “Small and Medium size LNG for Power production”, presented at the main Power-Gen Asia 2013 conference. Wärtsilä’s awards represent a strong endorsement of the company’s commitment and dedication to improving total power system efficiencies through fast and flexible power systems.

Asian Power Awards

The Asian Power Awards study “Improving Power System Efficiency with Fast Flexible Power – Case Thailand” was written by Saara Kujala, Manager, Development & Financial Services, Wärtsilä Power Plants, and Sushil Purohit, Regional Director, South-East Asia & Australia, Wärtsilä Power Plants. It illustrates how creating a fast and flexible power supply using gas-fired combustion engines can yield savings of some USD 260 million a year for Thailand’s energy sector.

A total of 16 projects were nominated in the category, from which three winners were selected. The judging criteria included effectiveness, innovation, and dynamism. The case study submitted by Wärtsilä highlighted the power situation in Thailand where the requirement for flexibility is especially high. The country’s system is characterized by three distinctive load peaks within a 24 hour cycle, and an average annual growth in peak demand of more than 4 per cent. This creates a critical need to maintain and even increase efficiency through the inclusion of fast and flexible response capability.

In accepting the award, Saara Kujala noted: “In the paper we argue that the key to implementing cost savings is to assess the most feasible technical solution based on its impact on the entire power system, rather than sub-optimizing the efficiency of individual power plants.”

Wärtsilä’s paper concludes that flexible power plants can help to improve the performance of an entire power system, yielding benefits not revealed in a narrow power plant level electricity cost analysis. Investments in fast flexible power can be implemented gradually to match the growth in power demand.

Fast Flexible Power generation improves power system efficiency, shows study in Thailand

Power-Gen Asia 2013 conference paper award

The successful Power-Gen Asia conference paper “Small and Medium size LNG for Power production” was submitted by Kari Punnonen, Business Development Manager, Middle East, Asia and Australia, Wärtsilä Power Plants. The study looks at the feasibility of investing in a single-purpose Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in conjunction with a power plant as an alternative to a power plant fuel feeding system. Natural gas is increasingly becoming the fuel of choice for power plant operators for both cost and environmental reasons, and Punnonen’s study makes the case for a dedicated terminal as a means of overcoming infrastructure deficiencies.

“Wärtsilä’s gas engine and dual-fuel technology is opening the doors to economic and environmental sustainability for power plant operators around the world. This study offers a viable means of ensuring the supply of natural gas,” said Sushil Purohit, Regional Director, South-East Asia & Australia, Wärtsilä Power Plants in accepting the award on behalf of Kari Punnonen.

Both awarded technical papers and presentations held at Power-Gen Asia 2013 are available at www.wartsilavirtualevents.com.

For further information about the Asian Power award and the Thailand study please contact:

Ms Saara Kujala
Manager, Development and Financial Services
Wärtsilä Power Plants
saara.kujala@wartsila.com
Tel. +65 9151 3091

Mr Sushil Purohit
Regional Director, South-East Asia & Australia
Wärtsilä Power Plants
sushil.purohit@wartsila.com
Tel. +65 977 13424

For further information about the Best paper award at Power-Gen Asia 2013 please contact:

Mr Kari Punnonen
Business Development Manager, Middle East, Asia & Australia
Wärtsilä Power Plants
kari.punnonen@wartsila.com
Tel. +358 10709 6167

Wärtsilä Power Plants in brief

Wärtsilä Power Plants is a major supplier of flexible base load power plants operating on various liquid and gaseous fuels. Wärtsilä Power Plants also provides unique, dynamic solutions for grid stability, reserve, peaking, load following and intermittent power generation. Wärtsilä has a long history and extensive experience in the design, construction and turn-key supply of power plants in the 4-600 MW range, running on gas, heavy fuel oil or light fuel oil. Wärtsilä delivers over 100 power plant projects each year. At the end of 2012, Wärtsilä had close to 54 GW of power installed in power plants in 169 countries around the world.

Additionally, Wärtsilä offers multi-fuel solutions that are used by the Mining, Manufacturing and Oil & Gas Industry for reliable power generation. The comprehensive global services range from project development and financing support, to tailored lifetime operation and maintenance services.

Read more about Wärtsilä Power Plants

Smart Power Generation 

Smart Power Generation is a new concept which enables an existing power system to operate at its maximum efficiency by most effectively absorbing current and future system load variations, thus providing dramatic savings.

Wärtsilä is the global leader in Smart Power Generation. Wärtsilä’s combustion engine technology and power plant solutions have been developed to provide a unique combination of valuable features that enable new horizons for future sustainable, reliable and affordable national power systems.http://www.smartpowergeneration.com/

Liquefied Natural Gas

Natural gas has increasingly become a fuel of choice for power generation. Production and transportation technologies have developed considerably, and in particular, the development of natural gas distribution networks has been a crucial factor in making natural gas available for use as an energy source. Today, the most common method of distribution is via pipelines. However, where such a supply infrastructure does not exist, liquefied natural gas (LNG) offers an alternative that enables natural gas to be used. The global LNG trade is expected to grow by 30 per cent in the coming few years.

Natural gas is well suited for use in combination with renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar. Natural gas burns more cleanly than other hydrocarbon fuels and produces less carbon dioxide per unit of energy released. For an equivalent amount of heat, the burning of natural gas produces about 30 per cent less carbon dioxide than petroleum, and about 45 per cent less than the burning of coal.

Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2012, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 4.7 billion with approximately 18,900 employees. The company has operations in nearly 170 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland. www.wartsila.com
Wärtsilä Newsroom

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Wärtsilä Power Plants honored with two awards at the Power-Gen Asia 2013 conference & exhibition and the Asian Power Awards 2013 event