Page 19 - CARILEC CE Journal CENOV 2021

Wärtsilä’s recently signed contract in the Caribbean showcases the company’s
capabilities in combining flexible power generation assets with energy
storage for grid management – precisely the combination needed in today’s
electricity markets.

ssuring electricity supplies on a small fuel that Wärtsilä commissioned two years ago. Not
tropical island is all about using imported only did VIWAPA need more capacity to meet its peak
fuel wisely and having contingency plans demand, but it also needed a flexible solution to kick
A in place for when something goes wrong, in and provide electricity when older generation
which it often does, given the annual parade of assets were unavailable.
hurricanes; or with other less predictable human
events such as a household adding intermittent PV Moreover, given that all fuel to the island is imported,
solar rooftop generation or a vehicle hitting a pole the existing system needed to operate as efficiently
and causing a short circuit event in the grid. It can as possible in order to reduce fuel costs and, as a
be a tricky balancing act between cost and reliability. result, the cost of electricity. The utility did not want
to be reliant on a single fuel and required that the
St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is about to new power plant be capable of switching seamlessly
receive a more fuel-efficient, flexible, and reliable between diesel and liquid propane gas (LPG) – a less
power supply, thanks to a contract signed in June polluting option. This multi-fuel capability will help
2020 between its utility, Virgin Islands Water and
Power Authority (VIWAPA), and Wärtsilä.

Wärtsilä is to provide a smart control system – its
GEMS Energy Management Platform – to optimise St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin
the entire island’s electricity generation, along with a Islands, is about to receive a more
hybrid plant comprised of a multi-fuel 36 MW engine fuel-efficient, flexible, and reliable
power plant and a 9 MW/18 MWh energy storage power supply, thanks to a contract
system (ESS). This new hybrid plant will be located at
the existing Randolph Harley Power Plant. signed in June 2020 between its
utility, Virgin Islands Water and
In addition to being Wärtsilä’s first engine/hybrid Power Authority (VIWAPA), and
power plant sale, this will also be the first installation
utilising the Wärtsilä 32LG engine – a flexible, multi- Wärtsilä.
fuel engine, capable of operating with hydrocarbons
in the range from propane to LFO, or carbon
number C3 to C20 – a landmark in the company’s
development of engine solutions. the utility hedge fuel price volatility in the future.
To make the most of the island’s fuel storage
The hybrid plant will be delivered via an Engineering, capacities, the multi-fuel engines were specified to
Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract. give the utility more flexibility and ultimately reduce
the chances of being affected by shortages in either
The project dovetails neatly with Wärtsilä’s energy fuel type. VIWAPA wanted the fuel changeover to
vision, which envisages the need for more flexible be seamless, a feature not often available from
capacity, with energy storage, in adapting to a competing technologies.
renewable energy future.
ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM
FLEXIBILITY SUPPORTING RELIABILITY As well as ensuring that generation capacity is
The engines, energy storage and control system increased, Wärtsilä is also supplying an energy
package for VIWAPA will improve the reliability of storage solution and energy management system in
the energy supply, a challenge encountered in recent the form of GEMS software controls and the GridSolv
years. The utility has various generation assets on Max solution plus inverters, which will provide 9 MW
the island, including some ageing gas turbines, as of essential spinning reserve, frequency response
well as newly installed engines running on propane and black-start capabilities.

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