Wärtsilä Finland Oy Will Build the 129-Million Euro Emergency Reserve Power Station

The Elering procurement to build a 250-MW capacity emergency reserve power station has been won by Wärtsilä Finland Oy. The power station will not run every day, but is needed to ensure the supply of electricity if there is a sudden drop in generation capacity. Being able to produce extra electricity ourselves in an emergency will greatly increase our security of supply.

Four bids were received for the public procurement and the successful bid was that by Wärtsilä Finland Oy, which will use piston engines and will cost 129 million euros. The first phase of construction of the power station will supply 100 MW and be completed in 2013, and the second phase of 150 MW in 2014. The power station can operate with two different fuels, and an on-site storage facility for liquid fuel will ensure that there is sufficient fuel available at the site in even the most extreme circumstances. If there is a sufficient supply of gas available, then gas will be used as the fuel, as it provides a cheaper alternative.

Chair of the Elering board Taavi Veskimägi said that this is an important project for the Estonian energy sector, and it will ensure supplies of electricity to consumers if any power station unexpectedly drops out of production. “The capacity of the new plant is equal to one-sixth of Estonia’s peak consumption, so in an emergency it will be able to cover a large part of Tallinn’s winter electricity consumption. Its electrical capacity can be compared to that of the much-discussed blocks of the Narva power plants”, he added.

Elering has a duty to be able to cover the lost capacity of the largest generators in the country in no more than 15 minutes in the event of failure. These is currently no fast-starting power station in Estonia, and Elering has signed an agreement with the Latvian TSO Latvenergo until 2013 for the supply of reserve capacity, to ensure the stability of the electricity system and the balance between electricity production and consumption even in an emergency. The need to build emergency capacity stems from the development plan of the electricity sector, which expects emergency power stations to be in existence by 2018 in order to guarantee security of supply. Being ready to generate electricity ourselves in an emergency will substantially raise our energy security and Elering’s forecasts show that it would be much more expensive simply to renew the contract with Latvenergo at a time when Latvia and Lithuania are both short of generating capacity, and that looking into the future the most reasonable solution is to build our own emergency station.

Statistics show that in recent years Estonia has needed to call on the emergency reserve for about 200 hours per year.

A study ordered by Elering showed that the best place for an emergency power station is in the region of the Kiisa 330 kV substation. The advantage of this region is the strong connections from the Kiisa substation through high-voltage lines to the other key substations in Estonia such as Rakvere, Paide, Narva and Harku. The strong connections with the substations of Harjumaa and Tallinna will help the planned emergency station increase the security of supply in the region of highest demand in Estonia.

The amount of reserve capacity needed is calculated in cooperation with the system operators of neighbouring countries, Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania, and each system has an obligation to hold an agreed amount of emergency reserve capacity. After the completion of EstLink 2, Elering will have an emergency reserve of 650 MW even without other system operators, which will cover the loss of all capacity if connections drop out. By managing the emergency reserve in partnership with other countries, we have much less need to build emergency capacity and so we can spare electricity consumers from the financial burden which they would have to carry through increased network fees to pay for the construction of the reserve stations.

Fast-starting power stations using hydro power, gas turbines and piston engines are usually used to provide the emergency reserve.

Elering is the Estonian Transmission System Operator, whose main duty is to ensure high-quality supplies of electricity to consumers at all times. To achieve security of supply, Elering maintains and develops the national transmission grid and international connections. Elering controls the Estonian electricity system in real time, ensuring the operation of the transmission network, and the balance between production and consumption.