Wärtsilä inaugurates 58 MW gas power plant in Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby Power Station being inaugurated by the Hon. James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Mr Peter Botten, Managing Director of Oil Search Limited and Mr Wapu Sonk, Managing Director of Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited.

(PRESS RELEASE) HELSINKI, 18-Dec-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Technology group Wärtsilä inaugurates the first ever utility-scale gas engine project in Papua New Guinea which was attended by the Hon. James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea on 6 December 2019. Wärtsilä supplied and constructed the 58 MW gas-fired power plant near Port Moresby, the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. The plant will enhance the reliability of the local electricity grid, it will also make a significant contribution to decreasing the carbon footprint of Papua New Guinea’s energy generation.

Wärtsilä built the facility on an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis in cooperation with Australia-based construction and asset support services provider, Clough Ltd. The facility is part of an infrastructure building programme being developed by NiuPower. Jointly owned by Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (Papua New Guinea’s national oil company) and Oil Search Limited, NiuPower is a company established to focus on the development of power generation in the country.

The plant operates on six highly efficient, clean-burning Wärtsilä 34SG gas engines, providing a reliable source of baseload power for the local grid. The net capacity of 58MWe represents approximately 29% of the installed capacity of the Port Moresby System. NiuPower expects that the plant will save approximately 100 million Papua New Guinean kina (25.6 million euro) annually, since it does not require diesel fuel.

Wärtsilä is responsible for the full operation and maintenance of the plant, ensuring optimal performance at all times. This lifecycle solution has the benefit of remote monitoring from Wärtsilä Expertise Centres.

“This power plant is an extremely important addition to Papua New Guinea’s energy portfolio, and we are very pleased with the technology and services provided by Wärtsilä that will allow us to meet our economic and environmental targets for the project. We also appreciate the fact that the power plant was built according to the rather demanding time schedule, and again we thank both Wärtsilä and Clough for this,” said NiuPower’s CEO, Michael Uiari.

Frederic Carron, Energy Business Director, Australasia, Wärtsilä Energy Business, said: “Wärtsilä is proud to be part of this significant power infrastructure project. We are very pleased to have successfully delivered the high efficiency Port Moresby Power Station to NiuPower. Running on domestic natural gas, it provides low carbon energy, which reduces the country’s imports of diesel. Wärtsilä is leading the transition towards a renewable energy future, a central pillar of which is enabling plants to operate on environmentally sound fuels, and this project is a further example of this commitment.”

Wärtsilä’s operation and maintenance agreements are tailored to the needs of the plant owner to give real added value. They represent a key element of Wärtsilä’s Lifecycle solutions for the energy industry, which provide guaranteed operational availability and efficiency backed by expert advice on optimising the plant’s operations and maximising its uptime.

Contact details:

Suraj Narayan
Sales Director, Australia & Oceania
Wärtsilä Energy Business
Mob +61 409 717 325
suraj.narayan@wartsila.com

Mirja-Maija Santala
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Wärtsilä Energy Business
Mob: +358 400 793 827
mirja-maija.santala@wartsila.com

SOURCE: WÄRTSILÄ