ContourGlobal to Install Dual-Fuel Wartsila Engines at Senegal Plant

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The recent summit for U.S. and African leaders in Washington saw the signing of an agreement between Senegal's national power utility Societe Nationale d'Electricite de Senegal (SENELEC) and international power project developer ContourGlobal (New York), for the latter to construct a 53-megawatt (MW) thermal power plant under a 20-year power-purchase agreement.

The project will involve a $100 million investment and is designed to burn heavy fuel and natural gas feeds. When completed in 2015, it will be the lowest-cost liquid-fuel and natural-gas-fired power plant in the country. ContourGlobal will install Wartsila 18V46 high-efficiency engines--the same type that the company used in power projects in Togo and Rwanda. The engines will be coupled with "flexi-cycle" steam turbine technology to increase generation capacity, and reduce the cost of the power output.

The plant will be built on a brownfield site, which was acquired by ContourGlobal on the outskirts of the capital Dakar in 2013.

"By utilizing the infrastructure at the site, we are able to provide SENELEC with the lowest-cost electricity in their engine-based generation portfolio, replacing expensive emergency power rental equipment," said Joseph C. Brandt, president and chief executive of ContourGlobal.

"By designing the project with Wartsila so that it can quickly be converted to natural gas, we are working to fulfill the promise made by President Mack Sall to diversify the Senegalese power structure away from liquid fuels," he added.

For related information, see August 12, 2014, article - U.S. - Africa Summit Produces $37 Billion Project Pipeline.

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