Azerbaijan, Baku, 5 June / corr Trend E.Ismayilov / Finnish company Wartsila, one of the world leaders in vessel power devices and energy systems, hopes to conclude several contracts on delivery of own products, Ismo Haapala, the director of Wartsilla in Azerbaijan said in the inauguration of a new enlarged office in Baku.
The need for new production facilities emerged as a result with the rapid growth in the operations due to the rise in the number of the company's electric power stations in this country and number of ships in the Caspian Sea supplied with Wartsilla equipment.
"We are here not only for one contract, but for a long-term period," Haapala said and added that Wartsilla is holding talks on the supply of generators for the operations in the offshore facilities of Azerbaijan. The company is largely represented in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan as well.
"The major driving force is the existence of local natural gas as a fuel for the electric power stations, development of local oil and gas resources and general growth of the country's economy in the region," Haapala said.
Wartsila has been present in Azerbaijan for about ten years. Currently Wartsila employs 59 people in Baku. The number is expected to grow to 75 in the course of this year. At present, 43 of these people are working in the premises while the remainder are employed at the various power plants in Azerbaijan.
Wartsila currently has five power plants in operation in Azerbaijan with a combined output of 450 MWe at Astara, Baku, Khachmaz, Nakhchivan and Sheki. Operated by Azerienerji, the Azerbaijan electricity company, they are equipped with fifty-two 20-cylinder Wartsila 34SG gas-fuelled engines in V-configuration and supply to the national grid. Further plants ordered by Azerienerji include a 300 MWe plant with eighteen 18-cylinder Wartsila 50DF dual-fuel generating sets in Vee-form configuration at Sangachal and a 104 MWe plant with twelve 20-cylinder Wartsila 34SG generating sets in Vee-form configuration at the Guba sports complex.
An important function of the new Wartsila premises will be to supervise operations and maintenance of the Azerienerji power plants by Wartsila under maintenance contracts. As experience is built up in the Baku office it will lead to further development of services in the region to match the lifecycle needs of existing and forthcoming installations.
The correspondent can be contacted at [email protected]