Wärtsilä has been awarded the contract to supply a 384MW gas power plant to Azerbaijan. In terms of output, this is the largest single power plant order that Wärtsilä has received to date. When completed, the Boyuk Shor power plant located close to the capital Baku, will be operated by Azerenerji JSC, the state-owned utility. Wärtsilä’s scope of supply will be 21 Wärtsilä 50SG engines running on natural gas, related auxiliaries and process equipment. The plant is scheduled to be operational in autumn 2013, and will supply electricity to the Baku regional grid. The Wärtsilä 50SG is a four-stroke, spark-ignited gas engine operating on the Otto cycle and incorporating the lean-burn principle. It has been designed using the proven gas technology used in the smaller Wärtsilä 34SG engine. An important feature of this engine is its exceptionally high power plant net electrical efficiency rating – more than 50% in combined-cycle mode.
The lean-burn gas engines (SG) feature port admission of gas, a pre-chamber with controlled gas flow, as well as individual cylinder control of the gas charge and ignition timing. This choice of concept, along with extensive research in combustion and combustion control, has made it possible to elevate the efficiency from 40% to more than 48% in the bigger engine models.
