Wärtsilä to supply $83.8M power barge to Papuan mine

Wärtsilä has been contracted by Lihir Gold Limited to supply a US$83.8 million barge-mounted power plant to its Lihir Island gold mine.

The power plant is scheduled to be fully operational by April 2011.

The barge-mounted plant will be based on Wärtsilä 20V32 engines operating on heavy fuel oil. Since the plant is planned as being an interim solution to the company's power needs for the site, it was decided to mount the power plant on a barge so that it can be later moved to another location when no longer needed at Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea.

Extra electrical power was needed at the mine since Lihir Gold Limited is in the process of extending the facilities. The company required a flexible power solution for interim use, and emphasised the importance of having a firm and specified delivery time.

Wärtsilä has earlier supplied more than 200 MW of power generating equipment for a number of projects in Papua New Guinea, including twelve Wärtsilä 32 type engines to Lihir Gold Limited.