Wärtsilä, Clough win PNG gas-fired power plant deal

The technology group Wärtsilä, in partnership with Australia-based engineer Clough, has been awarded a turnkey contract to provide a 58 MW power plant to Papua New Guinea.

The plant is part of an infrastructure building programme being developed by Niupower, a venture between Kumul Petroleum Holdings and Oil Search Power Holdings, Wärtsilä said on Monday.

The plant will be located near PNG’s capital, Port Moresby, and will operate on six Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas. This will be the first-ever utility-scale gas engine project in Papua New Guinea, according to Wärtsilä.

Under the terms of the turnkey contract, Wärtsilä will provide the gas engines, generators and related auxiliaries, while Clough will be responsible for the remaining plant equipment, the installation, and the plant construction.

The project is expected to be completed in late 2018, Wärtsilä said.