By guaranteeing the availability of power, Wärtsilä says it delivers crucial support to the mine’s operations. Matching power availability with operational demand is required, monitored and incentivised on a daily basis.
“This is an isolated mine with no grid connection, so a reliable source of electricity from the captive Wärtsilä power plant is essential for maintaining the mine’s productivity and operating-revenue-earning capability”, commented Marc Thiriet, energy business director, Africa West, Wärtsilä.
“After analysing the customer’s needs and how we could meet them, we developed the performance guarantee as an assurance of plant availability, while minimising fuel consumption and running hours as important cost-saving benefits. We see performance-based agreements becoming widely utilised as an effective solution.”
The power plant in question has four Wärtsilä 32 engines, which commenced operation in 2016. The extension with a further four Wärtsilä 32 engines was subsequently added, and commissioned in 2021. Wärtsilä has had an O&M agreement for the plant since 2017, which has now evolved into becoming this performance-based agreement.
Long-term service agreements are an important element within Wärtsilä’s lifecycle services, providing “value-adding customer support.” Performance-based service agreements include quantifiable targets, which are mutually agreed based on the customer’s business needs. The measurable indicators can include, for example, power availability, reliability, fuel consumption, and emissions. Wärtsilä shares the risks and rewards with the customer.
Globally, Wärtsilä currently has 14 GW of power plant capacity covered by long-term service agreements, of which 2 GW is in Africa.
Another recent gold mining development announced by Wärtsilä was the winning of an order to supply a 22 MW natural gas fuelled power plant to mining company Argonaut Gold Inc for its Magino gold mine in Ontario, Canada. According to Wärtsilä, the order emphasises once again “its growing presence in the Canadian energy market, as well as its strong position in serving the power needs for the mining industry globally.”
The power plant will consist of four Wärtsilä 34SG gas engines.
Wärtsilä said it received four power plant orders in Canada in 2021, and three of those were from mining companies.
