Electricite de France Awards MAN $1 Billion Contract for 54 Diesel Base Power Generators

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Large-scale gas- and diesel-fed packaged power turbines are currently being installed worldwide in turnkey projects to meet critical peak power requirements in national grids operating on the ragged edge of capacity and for industrial captive power projects. Now MAN Diesel, a subsidiary of MAN AG (FRA:MAN) (Munich, Germany), has won the largest contract in the company's long history to provide base load generating sets to France's overseas departements in Reunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana and two power plants in Corsica.

State-owned power major Electricite de France (EDF) (Paris) awarded the contract to MAN for 54 large-scale 18V448/60 diesel-fed engines with a combined power output of 1,025 megawatts (MW)--equivalent to the generating capacity needed by 1 million average households. The MAN contract is worth $1.02 billion and forms the major part of EDF's $1.76 billion project to provide the primary base load power to the local electricity grids of the territories.

MAN is the consortium leader for the engineering, procurement, construction of the project with two partners: Eiffage Traveaux Publics, a subsidiary of Eiffage S.A. (EPA:FGR) (Asnieres-sur-Seine, France), who is handling the construction and Clemessy S.A. (Mulhouse, France), who is supplying the electrical equipment. The six turnkey plants are scheduled to be in operation supplying the different grids between 2010 and 2012.

Highly developed and proven Man Diesel 48/60 engines have 18 cylinders in a V-formation and are the basis of the gensets, which consist of an engine and generators producing an average of 18.5 MW and weighing 375 tons. The largest power installations will be in Reunion and Guadeloupe with twelve power units each.

Stringent criteria for fuel consumption, noise levels and exhaust emissions were laid down in the contract terms. All the engines will be fitted with an SCR catalytic converter employing urea injection to minimize emissions of oxides and nitrogen. The engines will be assembled in France at MAN's Saint-Nazaire production plant.

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