Wärtsilä to supply engines to NT power plant expansion

Power plant solution supplier Wärtsilä has been awarded the contract to supply equipment for an expansion of the McArthur River zinc mine power plant in the Northern Territory. The expansion is being undertaken by EDL NGD, a subsidiary of Energy Developments.

The company will supply six Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas with a total output of 53 MW, as well as related engineering services. The 34SG is a four-stroke, spark-ignited gas engine that works according to the Otto process and the lean-burn principle. It is claimed to have the highest efficiency of any spark-ignited gas engine available.

“Wärtsilä has an established track record of delivering high quality and EDL was impressed by Wärtsilä’s proposal to supply an efficient power plant solution on a fast-track basis,” said Shane McLaughlin, EDL Executive General Manager, Project Delivery.

“In meeting the plant’s operational requirements of a flexible and efficient supply with a high step load capacity, we have also demonstrated our ability to meet the customer’s needs for a rapid delivery,” said Suraj Narayan, General Manager of Wärtsilä Power Plants in Australia and Oceania.

Delivery of the 34SG engines is scheduled to be completed by early 2013, with the power plant expected to be fully operational by late 2013.