Wärtsilä achieves recip breakthrough

Wärtsilä is to supply a 30 MW combined heat and power plant to CGGC UN Power in China. This is believed to be the first gas-fired medium-speed reciprocating engine power plant in China, “marking the entry of a new technology into the market” says the Finnish piston engine supplier, describing it as a “landmark project and proof that innovative, flexible and efficient reciprocating engine based power generation can play a key role in the Chinese power system.” The new plant, Guangdong Huadian Panyu Wanbo CBD Distributed Energy Project, consisting of three Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas, is scheduled to be fully operational during 2018. The plant, located in Guangzhou, will supply electricity to the grid as well as heating and cooling to buildings in the vicinity. 

China Gezhouba Group Cooperation (CGGC), established in 1970, is a diversified state-owned enterprise, of which CGGC UN Power is a key component, focused on distributed generation technologies such as gas engine based power plants and investment in Chinese power generation.

According to CGGC, “CHP plants are gaining a foothold in the Chinese market, supported by the need for a reliable heat and power supply as the population increases”.

“This is a breakthrough project in two ways”, said Javier Cavada, president, Wärtsilä Energy Solutions. It is a first of a kind for China and also demonstrates that Wärtsilä’s efforts to make the case for developing flexible gas fired piston based power plants and CHP in China are beginning to achieve results. 

The installed capacity of Wärtsilä-supplied CHP plants totals about 11 GW worldwide. The company’s installed power generation fleet to date has a capacity of over 63 GW, in 176 countries.