瓦锡兰将为美国德克萨斯州建造的一座约190兆瓦的新发电厂提供发电设备。该订单由下科罗拉多河管理局（LCRA）下达，该管理局是一家位于德克萨斯州奥斯汀的河流管理局，为德克萨斯州电网提供电力。该合同于2022年9月被瓦锡兰预订为订单接收。

德克萨斯州中部正在经历快速的经济增长，许多蓝筹股公司进入该地区，同时在2010年至2020年期间，人口增加了30%。该州其他地区的这种增长也产生了对额外发电能力的需求，以满足该州日益增长的电力需求。

该项目将是一个能够快速启动和停止的调峰电厂，提供可调度的电力，以提高可靠性并在可再生能源和其他发电资源不可用或不足以满足德克萨斯人的需求时提供电力来平衡电网。

“这个采用瓦锡兰技术的新型可调度峰值发电厂将在几分钟内为德克萨斯州的电网提供支持，”LCRA首席商务官Randa Stephenson说。“我们有时需要更多的电力，可以根据市场条件和需求快速提供。我们相信瓦锡兰的技术、经验和技术诀窍将与我们为客户和德克萨斯州电网提供可靠、具有成本效益的电力的计划。

“能源行业正处于快速转型之中，灵活性变得非常重要。德克萨斯州的情况非常清楚地反映了这些变化，老化的不灵活的发电厂并不能满足急剧上升的需求。为了应对可再生能源不断增加的能源投入，还需要电网平衡，而瓦锡兰技术提供了这一点。我们祝贺LCRA有远见，为其投资组合增加更多灵活的资源，“瓦锡兰能源美洲副总裁Risto Paldanius评论道。

该工厂将位于德克萨斯州中部，将使用十台利用天然气运行的瓦锡兰50SG发动机。预计将于2025年全面投入运营。每台瓦锡兰发动机每周几乎不耗水，这在经常受干旱影响的德克萨斯州是一个重要特点。

自1981年以来，瓦锡兰已在美国安装了70多个发动机发电厂和15个储能设施，总容量超过4500兆瓦。

Texas utility selects Wärtsilä for 190 MW grid-balancing peaker power plant

Wärtsilä will supply the generating equipment for a new approximately 190 MW power plant to be built in Texas, USA

Wärtsilä will supply the generating equipment for a new approximately 190 MW power plant to be built in Texas, USA. The order was placed by Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a river authority based in Austin, Texas providing wholesale power to the Texas power grid. The contract was booked as order intake by Wärtsilä in September 2022.

Central Texas is experiencing rapid economic growth with a number of blue-chip companies moving into the area, along with a 30 percent increase in population between 2010 and 2020. This and similar growth in other areas of the state has created the need for additional generating capacity to meet the state’s growing need for power. 

The project will be a peaker power plant capable of starting and stopping rapidly to provide dispatchable power to increase reliability and provide power to balance the grid when renewable and other generational resources are not available or are insufficient to meet the needs of Texans.

“This new dispatchable peaker power plant with Wärtsilä technology will support the Texas power grid within minutes,” said Randa Stephenson, LCRA chief commercial officer. “We sometimes need more power that can be available quickly, depending on market conditions and demand. We believe Wärtsilä’s technology, experience and technical know-how will be a good match with our plans to provide reliable, cost-effective power to our customers and the Texas power grid.”

“The energy sector is in the midst of a rapid transformation where flexibility is becoming all important. The situation in Texas reflects very clearly these changes, with sharply rising demand being served by an aging fleet of inflexible power plants. Grid balancing is also needed in order to respond to increasing inputs of energy from renewable sources, and Wärtsilä technology provides this. We congratulate LCRA for having the vision to add further flexible resources to its portfolio,” commented Risto Paldanius, Vice President, Americas, Wärtsilä Energy.

The plant will be located in Central Texas and will operate with ten Wärtsilä 50SG engines running on natural gas. It is expected to become fully operational in 2025. Each Wärtsilä engine consumes little to no water every week, which in Texas, an area often affected by drought, is an important feature.

Wärtsilä has installed over 70 engine power plants in the USA since 1981 and 15 energy storage facilities with a total combined capacity of over 4500 MW.