20100120
allafrica

Nairobi — Wartsila Corporation of Finland has won the contract to supply 117-megawatt emergency power plant to the Kenya Electricity Generating Company.

The company's Regional Director for Africa Tony van Velzen said the firm had been awarded a turn-key contract to supply equipment for Kipevu III thermal power in Mombasa to inject 117 MW to the national grid.
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"The contract was signed in November and the plant is scheduled to be operational in January 2011," he said. "The order has placed been by Kenya Electricity Generating Company, a partly state-owned utility."

He said in a statement the firm would supply to KenGen seven of its Wartsila 18V46 engines, initially to be run on heavy fuel oil, to provide generating capacity for flexible base load supply.

The delivery also includes a gas insulated switch-gear substation for connection to the existing grid. The power plant will also provide the utility with reliable grid stability.

"Competitive life cycle costs, product quality, fuel and operational flexibility and long-term reliability," Mr Velzen added, "make Wartsila power plants suitable for both stationary and floating base load applications."

Local presence

He said KenGen had requested a fast-track project with reliable equipment at a competitive price and Wartsila was able to meet the demand. "The engines can be converted to gas when gas supply is locally available. Our local presence and ability to provide service support was also a critical factor in our selection," he said.

When completed the Kipevu III project will raise the generating capacity delivered by Wartsila Corporation to Kenya to over 350 megawatts. Wartsila Eastern Africa Ltd has signed a 15-year operation and maintenance agreement with Tsavo Power Company that owns the 74-MW thermal facility in Mombasa known as Kipevu II power plant.

Tsavo Power Company was formed in 1998 as a special-purpose corporate entity owned by a consortium of international investors who provided debt and equity financing for development of the project. Meanwhile, EDF could be forced to sell up to 120 terawatt hours to rival French power suppliers as early as this year, according to a draft bill aimed at fostering competition in the heavily regulated French power market.

A copy of the draft bill was made available to Reuters by an industry source. The government, which plans to see the power market reform come into effect by July, presented the draft bill to French power industry players and consumer groups on Tuesday.