Finland-headed international energy and marine technology group Wärtsilä Oyj has announced that its renewal of its existing Operations and Maintenance (O&M) agreement with QIT Madagascar Minerals S.A (QMM), part of the Rio Tinto Group, has been expanded to include a Decarbonization Agreement.
According to Wärstsilä, the Decarbonization Agreement is a groundbreaking offering in the energy sector and allows for optimizing all of the assets in the microgrid, including renewable energy usage, thereby not only reducing emissions but also producing notable cost savings.
The continued O&M agreement covers QMM’s 24 MW engine power plant at the company’s ilmenite mineral sands mine at Fort Dauphin in south-eastern Madagascar.
The key elements of the Decarbonization Agreement include optimized dispatch of the plant’s six Wärtsilä 32 engines and QMM’s battery energy storage and renewable assets with Wärtsilä’s GEMS Digital Energy Platform.
The O&M Agreement with Wärtsilä has been in place since 2008 and we have been pleased with Wärtsilä’s performance. The reliability and efficiency of the power plant are critical to our operations, and we are therefore excited to extend this agreement. The renewed agreement allows us to take advantage of Wärtsilä’s competence in power system optimization and use renewables in the most efficient way, supporting Rio Tinto’s decarbonization objectives and sustainable mining vision, said Jean-Francois Richer, Director of Integrated Operational Services at QMM.
The GEMS software uses machine learning technology to optimize multiple energy generation assets and ensure maximum utilization of renewable energy.
Our Decarbonisation Agreement is taking energy optimization to a new level by enabling cost savings, a reduced environmental footprint, and higher efficiency. What is more, the partnership is outcome-based with mutual incentives. This is the way forward in making decarbonized operations a viable reality, said Christoffer Ek, Director of Decarbonisation Services at Wärtsilä Energy.
The hybrid power plant supplies the electricity required to operate the mine and the nearby town of Fort Dauphin.
This agreement strengthens our long-lasting partnership with QMM. We are delighted to continue to support their operations, both with our technology and our regional service network. By working in close cooperation with the customer, we are able to ensure a reliable and sustainable power supply to the mine, ended Kenneth Engblom, VP of Africa & Europe at Wärtsilä Energy.
