Wärtsilä Corporation will deliver totally eight gas-fuelled generating sets with a combined output of 48 MWe to Batam and South Sumatra.
Two Wärtsilä 18V34SG sets were contracted by the Indonesian independent power producer PT Elnusa Prima Elektrika in June 2005. The generating sets will be installed at the Prabumulih Gas Engine Power Plant near Palembang in South Sumatra, Indonesia. The sets are due to be fully operational by mid 2006. They will supply electricity to PLN.
The first gas engines delivered to PLN were two Wärtsilä 18V34SG generating sets in 2002 for PT PLN Tarakan, East Kalimantan.
PLN is a major customer for Wärtsilä, acquiring some 1500 MW of Wärtsilä generating plants over the years. The company and their subsidiaries now have a policy of expanding their power generation capacity through power purchase agreements with IPPs.
Another three Wärtsilä generating sets, contracted in March 2005, are being supplied to industrial park management company PT Batamindo Investment Cakrawala. The project incorporates the installation of Wärtsilä 18V32DF engines, each of 6012 kW electrical output, at Mukakuning, also on Batam. The first set is due for commissioning by end 2005 and the other two sets by early 2006. The plant will deliver electrical power to the Batamindo Industrial Park.
The Wärtsilä 18V32DF dual-fuel engines will primarily burn natural gas with just 1% liquid fuel for ignition. Batamindo Industrial Park’s existing power plant comprises 16 units of Wärtsilä 18V32 generating sets which operate on heavy fuel oil. Eventually, PT Batamindo Investment Cakrawala plans to convert the existing generating sets to dual-fuelled sets that operate mainly on natural gas.
A further three Wärtsilä 18V34SG generating sets, each of 6000 kW electrical output, are being supplied to the independent power producer (IPP) PT Indo Matra Power. They are being installed in the industrial park at Kabil on the south-east side of Batam. The island of Batam is in the Riau archipelago and directly across the strait from Singapore. The order was received in February. The three sets are due for commissioning by the end of 2005. The plant will deliver electrical power to the Kabil industrial park and to the state-owned electricity company PT PLN Batam.
These are the first gas engines to generate electricity for PLN on Batam. They will burn indigenous natural gas delivered by pipeline. The gas pipeline is fed from Central Sumatra and also interconnected from Natuna island, Indonesia to Singapore.