Technology group Wärtsilä has launched its next generation grid balancing technology, designed to provide flexible grid capacity, in all weather conditions, and enable renewables to perform as the lowest cost, most resilient power source for grids worldwide.
The Wärtsilä 31SG Balancer is supported by a cost-efficient plant construction design, reducing time-to-electricity by 30%.The solution is based on three key integrated components: the Wärtsilä 31SG Balancer engine, prefabricated modules for cost-efficient plant construction, and Wärtsilä Lifecycle services. The Wärtsilä 31SG Balancer offers 12 400 kW (8% more power than the previous model) at a heat rate of 6 800 Btu/kWh (+50% efficiency), lowering the cost and risk of the renewable transition by providing flexible, resilient capacity. The new engine technology is designed to provide power producers with fast-ramping balancing power, which can be scaled up as the share of renewables in power systems increases. The engine can start and ramp up rapidly to support intermittent renewable generation so that the lowest cost cleanest energy technology can become the dominant power source.
The engine in the 31SG Balancer solution has been designed for US environmental conditions, including adverse weather, to provide the optimal flexible technology and ensure continued running at times of extreme cold, or heat, from -40°C to +45°C
“Extreme weather is intensifying – and ‘weatherisation’ is now a requirement in states such as Texas. Through the freezing winter blackouts in Texas last winter and California’s heatwave this summer, renewable plants supported by our engines kept running. The agile, fast-ramping engines are designed for the climate-changed world in which utilities now operate, enabling the greater deployment of renewables in grids around the world,” said Risto Paldanius, Vice President, Americas, Wärtsilä Energy.
The Wärtsilä 31SG Balancer responds to market needs with a cost-efficient plant construction design, based on prefabricated, high quality power plant modules. It reduces time-to-electricity with 30% less site work than traditional construction methods.
Key features
- The Wärtsilä 31SG Balancer delivers more power while maintaining high efficiency
- Cost-efficient and fast plant construction, enables balancing capacity to be built-up over time, as renewables are added
- Fuel flexibility, the engine can run on natural gas, biogas and hydrogen blend with broad opportunities for future conversions to sustainable fuels
- Lifecycle services offer remote support, enabling leaner operations and Wärtsilä can guarantee plant performance.
“The energy transition is gathering speed around the world – including the US where, by 2029, solar and wind could be the cheapest at less than 5 USD per megawatt hour. Wärtsilä’s latest grid balancing engine is designed to help utilities transform the energy mix of their power plant portfolios, so that the lowest cost technologies, renewables, provide most of the power, most of the time,” Paldanius added.
For more information visit: www.wartsila.com/energy