Africa is ready to provide enough energy to achieve the most ambitious of goals, and it can do it while maintaining all environmental targets.
We believe careful planning of power systems towards more sustainable and diversified energy supply portfolios can save billions and rapidly reduce CO2 emissions. We create value through our extensive power system knowledge and experience from integrating different generating assets.
On this page, you may find our best materials and proceedings in energising and decarbonising the continent of Africa.
of engine power plant capacity installed
African countries with active customers
Wärtsilä engines installed across the continent
customers across the continent
With more than 650 employees and service hubs located in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Senegal, Wärtsilä is proud to have contributed to many industry firsts. These include Africa’s largest gas engine power plant on the Kribi coast of Cameroon with 216MW capacity, as well as Africa’s highest installation, the 175 MW power plant in Sasolburg, South Africa, sitting at 1,700 meters above sea level.
Another first, the KivuWatt power plant in Rwanda, is the first ever power plant to use the naturally occurring methane from lake Kivu to generate electricity and reduce the environmental risks associated with such high concentrations of gas. Today’s power output is 25 MW but future planned expansions to this project will increase capacity by an additional 75 MW.
Technology group Wärtsilä has been selected by Origin Energy (Origin) to deliver the third stage of the Eraring battery facility at Origin’s Eraring Power Station in New South Wales, Australia. With this agreement, Wärtsilä will install an additional 700 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy storage capacity directly to the Eraring Stage 1 system. This project continues the successful partnership between Wärtsilä and Origin, bringing the Eraring facility’s total capacity to 700 MW / 2 800 MWh. This makes it the largest battery project in Australia and one of the largest in the world. The order was booked in Q4 2024.
"The scale of this project is impressive, delivering the largest total dispatch duration of an operating battery or project under construction in the Southern Hemisphere. At 2 800 MWh, when cycled once a day, the Eraring battery will dispatch enough energy to power more than 150 000 New South Wales households annually, helping to firm variable supply from wind and solar,” says Greg Jarvis, Head of Energy Supply and Operations at Origin.
The Eraring battery will connect to Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM), enhancing energy security and reliability in New South Wales as renewable energy supply increases. With this extension, the Eraring 1 facility will double the length of time it can store energy.
“We are honoured by Origin's continued trust in Wärtsilä. Embarking on stage three of the Eraring battery is a major step forward in transforming the Eraring Power Station and supporting Origin in achieving their goal to exit coal-fired generation. We are excited to continue supporting this project, which now is among the biggest battery energy storage projects either under construction or operational in the world to date. This is a strong testament to our unwavering dedication to enabling a 100% renewable energy future,” says Andrew Tang, Vice President of Energy Storage & Optimisation at Wärtsilä Energy.
A critical aspect of the system is Wärtsilä’s GEMS Digital Energy Platform, which monitors and controls the flow of energy, enabling facilities like Eraring to provide grid support during periods of instability. GEMS will provide firming capacity to balance Origin’s generation portfolio in support of its retail customer load. Stage 3 will be built with Wärtsilä’s fully integrated, modular, and compact Quantum energy storage system that offers low lifecycle costs, fast deployment times, and the highest quality control. Wärtsilä has worked closely with Origin to meet stringent noise requirements for the site, resulting in a site-specific noise solution. Wärtsilä will also provide a long-term service agreement to Origin for the supplied equipment
Stage 1 and 3 will operate in grid-following mode, with the potential to switch operation into grid-forming in the future, providing the capability to supply a variety of system strength and system restart ancillary services. Stage 2 will operate in grid-forming mode at the time of commercial operation.
Origin selected Wärtsilä for Stage 1 of the project in 2023 and Stage 2 earlier in 2024. Completion of Stage 3 is expected alongside Stage 1 at the end of 2025. Stage 2 is expected to come online in the beginning of 2027. Wärtsilä’s energy storage portfolio in Australia now exceeds 3.3 GWh.
Media contact for more information on this release:
Katri Pehkonen
Communications Manager
Wärtsilä Energy
Mob: +358 50 591 6180
katri.pehkonen@wartsila.com
Caption: Stage 1 of the 700 MW / 2810 MWh Eraring battery in New South Wales, Australia, is currently under delivery. © Origin Energy
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Wärtsilä Energy in brief
Wärtsilä Energy is at the forefront of the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. We help our customers and the power sector to accelerate their decarbonisation journeys through our market-leading technologies and power system expertise. Our solutions include flexible engine power plants, energy storage and optimisation technology, and services for the whole lifecycle of our installations. Our engines are future-proof and can run on sustainable fuels. Our track record comprises 79 GW of power plant capacity, of which 18 GW are under service agreements, and over 125 energy storage systems, in 180 countries around the world.
www.wartsila.com/energy
Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in innovative technologies and lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. We emphasise innovation in sustainable technology and services to help our customers continuously improve environmental and economic performance. Our dedicated and passionate team of 17,800 professionals in more than 280 locations in 79 countries shape the decarbonisation transformation of our industries across the globe. In 2023, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 6.0 billion. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
www.wartsila.com
South Africa
4 Powerful Street,
Paarden Eiland
7405,
Cape Town
Tel. +27 21 5111 230
Nigeria
Wärtsilä Marine and Power Services Nigeria
23 Oba Akinjobi Street
Ikeja GRA, Lagos
Nigeria
Tel. +234 907 808 0936 - Marine enquiry
+234 8057217049 - New Builds enquiry
+234 708 624 3992 - After Sales enquiry
E-mail: Sales/Services equiries WNG@Wartsila.com
Kenya
ABC Towers - 7A, ABC Place
Waiyaki Way
Nairobi
Tel. +254 20 7602 400 (Pilot)
E-mail: info.wea@wartsila.com
Senegal
Wärtsilä West Africa
Immeuble Le Thiargane 7ème étage, Mermoz Place OMVS
B.P. 21861 Dakar-Ponty, Dakar - Senegal
Tel + 221 33 865 41 00
Fax + 221 33 864 42 72
E-mail: West.africa@wartsila.com
Madagascar
Fort Dauphin (Taolagnaro)
QMM Madena, Fort Dauphin, 614
Madagascar
Tel. +261 20 224 3267
Fax: +261 20 224 3253
Cameroon
Wärtsilä Central Africa
Wärtsilä Base, Essengue
Douala, Cameroon
Tel +237 33 50 54 00
Fax +237 33 50 54 99
wcm@wartsila.com for general information
wcmsales@wartsila.com for commercial issues
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