Wärtsilä will supply five Wärtsilä 32 engines for a new 14 MW captive power plant at Fortuna Mining’s Diamba Sud Gold Project in Senegal.
Equipment delivery is scheduled for March 2027. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2027.
The order was placed by France-based Africa Power Services (APS), the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the plant, on behalf of Fortuna Mining. Wärtsilä will provide the generating sets, basic engineering, auxiliary equipment and control and monitoring systems, as well as commissioning support.
Diamba Sud is a remote, off-grid mining operation and will initially rely entirely on the captive plant for electricity. Reliable generation is therefore critical, while the plant is also being designed with a future shift towards lower-carbon operation in mind.
APS managing director Cedric Fernandez said the equipment would provide the “continuous performance required for such demanding conditions”, adding that the plant could later integrate renewable generation as the mine develops.
The five-engine configuration is intended to provide greater flexibility than relying on a single large generating unit. Multiple smaller sets can be brought online according to demand, helping maintain efficiency as the mine’s load changes.
Wärtsilä also points to the engines’ fast-starting capability as important for a future hybrid system. Fortuna has indicated that it plans to add renewable energy to the mine’s microgrid, potentially allowing solar or wind generation to supply part of the load while the engines provide balancing capacity.
The project illustrates the continuing role of engine-based generation at remote mines, where grid access is unavailable but operators are increasingly looking for ways to incorporate renewables without compromising reliability.
“Mining operations are under dual pressure to maintain maximum uptime while actively charting a path toward decarbonisation,” said Marc Thiriet, Wärtsilä Energy’s Energy Business Director for Africa.
The Diamba Sud project is located in eastern Senegal’s Kenieba–Koudougou Inlier, a mineral-rich area near the Mali border.
