During the past summer, the Yangon area of the country was subjected to power cuts of up to six hours a day. The government wants to avoid a repeat of this dire situation, hence Wärtsilä engines will be delivered on a fast-track basis before the end of February.
The two power plants will be owned by a consortium between China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC) and VPower Group of Myanmar. Each plant will comprise eight Wärtsilä 50SG pure gas engines delivering a combined output of 146 MW, and running on regasified LNG.
Once commissioned, the flexible power plant can operate base load at high efficiency but can also provide balancing power. This will allow to introduce more intermittent renewable energy sources to Myanmar’s power grid in the future.
Wärtsilä said its experience and strong track record in LNG-fuelled engines was “an important consideration in the award of the contract.” Still, the main point was the manufacturer’s ability to meet the “very demanding delivery schedule.”
“Endeavouring to deliver the much-needed electricity to millions of households in Myanmar, we set stringent requirements on product efficiency, reliability and safety, and also the suppliers’ capability of timely delivery. Wärtsilä has proven in previous projects that it can be relied on to deliver on a fast-track schedule, and the high efficiency of its gas engine solutions is what is needed here,” said Earnest Cheung, Chief Commercial Officer of VPower Group.