Finland-headed international energy and marine technology group Wärtsilä Oyj has announced that has once again been contracted by Aqualectra, Curaҫao’s government owned utilities company, to provide Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) in support of the country’s decarbonization program.
Aqualectra produces and distributes water and electricity to over 80,000 households and companies on Curaҫao Island. The company currently has three Wärtsilä engine power plants operating with a combined total of 16 Wärtsilä engines.
This latest order the value of which has not been disclosed is for a new 38.4 MW power plant capable of providing efficient grid balancing as the level of renewable energy in the system continues to increase.
Initial baseload capacity
The new Salu Power Plant is being supplied on a full engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis.
Initially, the plant will provide baseload power but will be later utilized in a grid-balancing role as part of the utility’s decarbonization focus. It will operate with four Wärtsilä 20V32 engines and immediately become one of Aqualectra’s most fuel-efficient power plants.
Earlier this year, Aqualectra placed an order with Wärtsilä for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), as well as Wärtsilä’s GEMS Digital Energy Platform.
The combined system will enable the expansion of renewable energy capacity, representing an important step towards a sustainable energy future for the island.
Aqualectra immensely values the continued partnership with Wärtsilä and their availability to hold discussions, exchange, and build bridges so that, on this occasion, we could again sign a significant agreement for the island and people of Curaçao, said Neysa Isenia, CFO at Aqualectra.
Provide power grid stability and reliability
The combination of Wärtsilä’s BESS and GEMS solutions, supported by the new power plant, will provide grid stability and reliability, reduce unserved energy, and help mitigate the risk of brownouts and blackouts.
In addition, the Wärtsilä solutions will allow Aqualectra to expand its decarbonization vision while smoothing the intermittency of renewables.
We have worked closely with Aqualectra in developing their long-term roadmap. This involved detailed analysis and modeling of their system, as well as verifying their own modeling. Aqualectra’s strategic objective is to provide the community with affordable, sustainable, and reliable electricity. Wärtsilä’s solutions will support all of these objectives by reducing the cost of generation, enabling the integration of renewables, while providing high reliability explained Risto Paldanius, VP of Americas at Wärtsilä Energy.
Delivery of the Wärtsilä equipment and construction of the power plant is being carried out on a fast-track basis, and the plant is expected to be fully operational by Q4 2025.
