Finnish Power major keen on riding LNG wave in Tamil Nadu

Having set up a Remote Monitoring Centre (RMC) here in Chennai in February 2016, the company is now turning its gaze onto hybrid power solutions, more specifically LNG, which the firm believes holds great potential for India. 

Kari Hietanen, Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations and Legal Affairs, Wärtsilä Corporation, which is present in seven locations across India says, “We are a 182-year-old company with a presence in more than 70 countries. One in every two ships in the world has an engine manufactured by us. Our association with India dates to the 1980s and our focus in this region happens to be in the energy sector. As India is an important and promising market, our company undertook a major investment in skill development here. Out of the global workforce of more than 18,000, India consists of about 900 employees.”

The team has delivered close to 250 power plants in India with total output of over 3,800 MW. The company, whose turnover touches about five billion Euros annually, takes care of the operations and management on behalf of its customers in over 35 power plants (including Boiler Turbine Generation stations) with a total output of over 1,300 MW in India. The nation’s ambitious target of achieving a renewable energy capacity of 175 GW by 2022 is being seen by companies like Wärtsilä as an opportunity, considering their expertise in delivering hybrid energy solutions. 

Kari says, “Today, many countries are investing in renewables, in the US, Europe and Asia. However, there is a question of reliability here as you cannot predict how windy or how sunny it will be at any given point in time. That’s a new challenge for the energy industry, which we have figured out early on with our hybrid solutions, using which one can switch from wind or solar power to liquid fuel or gas fuel driven power with the flick of a button. Our plants can also be well-connected using LNG technology, which is another area of specialization for us. We have LNG systems for ships, power plants and energy terminals for LNG storage. We see LNG becoming more popular across the world as well, not just in the transportation segment but even in shipping.”

Kari points out that 95 per cent of the goods transported in the world are carried via sea. And India’s massive coastline presents opportunities that are yet to be tapped. In the Marine market, Wärtsilä has delivered engines and propulsion equipment to vessels belonging to the Navy, Coast Guard, Port Trusts, Merchant Shipping, floating cranes and offshore rigs. Coastal shipping and inland waterways also present new opportunities for LNG propulsion, dredgers and tug boats. 

The company recently signed a comprehensive 12-year agreement with Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company. The value of the long-term agreement is approximately 900 million Euros.

Talking about the Remote Monitoring Centre in Chennai, Kari says, “It was set up for the benefit of power plant customers in India. RMC ensures real time monitoring by our experts to provide advice to help maintain continuous optimum and efficient performance of the power plant. 

Since its inauguration, six installations have been added to the list of engines being monitored from RMC, Chennai. A total of 14 installations are connected to RMC from global locations like Thailand, Australia, Bangladesh and India. More than 60 engines are being currently monitored here totaling to more than 600MW.”