Wärtsilä is to build Africa’s largest gas-fuelled combustion engine power plant at its facility in Sasolburg, South Africa.

As the engineering, procurement and contractor, the company will supply 18 Wärtsilä 20V34SG generating sets running on natural gas, with an output of 180MW.

The project will be located at an altitude of 1,700m and will provide base load electricity for the company’s own use.

Excess power generated by the project will be diverted to South Africa’s national grid, reports cbn.co.za.

The turnkey power plant operates with a closed circuit cooling system and consumes no water and will reduce the company’s operating costs and carbon footprint in the area.