Wärtsilä, a leading supplier of
flexible power plants and
services to the global power
generation market, has been awarded
the contract to supply a power plant
to the Republic of Rwanda. The
turnkey project is of particular
significance since the power plant will
utilize methane gas from the nearby
Lake Kivu as fuel. The order has been
placed by KivuWatt Ltd, a subsidiary
of the New York- based international
power company ContourGlobal.
When operational, the power plant
will supply electricity to Rwanda's
national utility.
This will be one of the first times
ever that power generation is derived
from this type of gas, although two
smaller power plants already operate
using the lake's methane gas for fuel.
However, this is the first time that
Lake Kivu's methane gas will be used
to fuel a power plant of this size. The
plant will be powered by 20-cylinder
Wärtsilä 34SG gas-powered engines
and have an electrical output of 25
mw. Future planned expansions to
this project will increase this output
by an additional 75 mw. Delivery of
the equipment is scheduled for the
first quarter of 2012, and the plant is
expected to be operational in the third
quarter of that same year.
Lake Kivu, located on the border
between Rwanda and the Democratic
Republic of Congo, contains high
concentrations of naturally occurring
methane gas. By tapping this
indigenous fuel to generate energy, the
need to import energy can be reduced.
Furthermore, since the build-up of the
gas is ongoing, it has been predicted in
studies that a saturation point will
eventually be reached that could lead
to a catastrophic gas release.
Extraction of the gas has thus the
potential to both mitigate the risks of
dangerous eruptions and provide
substantial energy reserves. The
actual extraction of gas from the lake,
however, is not included within
Wärtsilä's contractual scope.
"For the Republic of Rwanda this is a
win-win situation. On the one hand, gas
levels in Lake Kivu need to be reduced in
order to lessen the risks of a
spontaneous gas eruption in the future
that could have hazardous
consequences. At the same time, the
country urgently needs additional
power generation capacity, and so by
utilizing the lake's methane gas, both
goals are achieved," says Joseph C.
Brandt, President and CEO of
ContourGlobal.
"This is a landmark project, and one
that has the potential for huge
environmental and economic
implications," says Tony van Velzen,
Regional Director, Africa, Wärtsilä
Power Plants. "This kind of unique
challenge is one that Wärtsilä is well
able to handle. Smart power generation,
providing the ability to use the most
readily available fuel, in this case
methane gas, is a key element in
meeting future energy needs."
This will be Wärtsilä's second 25-
mw power plant to be installed in
Rwanda. ContourGlobal also operates
a 100-mw multi-fuel Wärtsilä power
plant in Togo.
As at the end of 2010, Wärtsilä had
delivered 4,500 power plants in 168
countries, providing a total of over
47,000 mw of energy capacity.