Wärtsilä's Flexible Engine Solutions Support Italy's Transition Towards its Renewable Energy Targets

­The technology group Wärtsilä will supply the engines with auxiliaries for a 75 MW power plant being built in Termoli, on the Adriatic coast of Italy. The plant has been contracted by energy utility Metaenergiaproduzione, and is under construction by FATA SpA, a member of the Danieli Group. The order was placed in April 2022, and booked as order intake in June.

The fast-starting Wärtsilä solution provides efficient grid balancing, enabling the utility to participate in Italy’s capacity market designed to promote the use of renewable energy sources. The plant will be on call by Terna, the national transmission system operator, to supply energy on demand to compensate for fluctuations in supply from solar and wind sources. The Wärtsilä engines can reach full output within minutes of start-up.

“FATA is developing opportunities in Italy’s capacity market and from renewable sources, and Wärtsilä was the natural choice for us to realise this new project,” said Italo Ballestrelli, FATA Executive Vice President. “Italy plans to triple its solar and double its wind energy production by 2030, and the flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines, coupled with their experience in this specific segment, are key enablers for this ambition.”

“We are pleased to be working for the first time with FATA on this important project. Decarbonisation of energy production is a goal that we at Wärtsilä support wholeheartedly and is central to our strategy. Efficiency and flexibility are the pillars upon which decarbonised production can be established, and that is what we strive to provide,” said Kenneth Engblom, Vice President, Africa & Europe, Wärtsilä Energy.

The entire delivery scope includes four Wärtsilä 50SG engines featuring high efficiency and fuel economy, plus auxiliaries, control panels, technical advisory services, the operators' interface system, and commissioning. The engines will be operating on natural gas. Wärtsilä engines are ready to also operate on sustainable fuels in the future, once they become widely available, which makes them a future-proof solution. Already today Wärtsilä engines can use synthetic and carbon-neutral methane and methanol, as well as hydrogen blends. Sustainable fuels together with engines can serve long-term energy storage needs for periods with persistently low wind or solar conditions.

The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for delivery in early 2023, and the plant is expected to become fully operational a few months later.

Wärtsilä has delivered 1,411 MW of power plant capacity to Italy, of which 709 MW are today covered by Wärtsilä long-term service agreements. Wärtsilä has a delivery centre in Trieste, and service offices in Genoa, Naples and Taranto.

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