Wartsila will supply two Smart Power Generation plants to Bangladesh, each producing 30 MW of power. Both orders include three Wartsila 34SG engines running on natural gas. The equipment will be delivered in late 2016, and the plants are scheduled to be fully operational in early 2017.
"With the equipment from Wartsila, we can have higher availability and reliability of our power plants, and we can ensure an uninterrupted power supply for our industry," says Luthfur Rahman, General Manager of Power Plants at Meghna Group.
Meghna Group of Industries (MGI) is one of the leading business conglomerates in Bangladesh. It produces daily necessities and food products for Bangladeshi consumers in the Meghnaghat Industrial Park, on the outskirts of Dhaka.
According to Luthfur Rahman, the high availability of the Wartsila plants will help to keep the production running, even when the power plants are undergoing maintenance. The multi-unit configuration allows sequential maintenance of one unit at a time. Less production downtime will enable MGI to serve its end customers better by providing them more products at cheaper prices. Surplus power from these power plants will be fed to the national grid, thus benefitting the local population in the surrounding rural area.
MGI is a repeat customer for Wartsila. With these two projects, the company's installed Wartsila capacity will be some 140 MW. The six new engines will replace obsolete generation capacity. MGI wanted to unify its power production under the umbrella of a single proven technology and supplier.
"We have a good relationship with Meghna Group of Industries and they have been satisfied with our equipment and the local service and support," says Raquef Reaz, Business Development Manager at Wartsila.
Wartsila has taken a significant stake in the power sector of Bangladesh by installing almost 2000 MW of capacity in the country during the last five years. The total Wartsila installed capacity in Bangladesh is approximately 2500 MW, which represents some 20 percent of the country's total. Globally, Wartsila's installed base is 60 GW in 176 countries.