Technology group Wärtsilä has signed an innovative decarbonisation services agreement with Aqualectra, the energy utility company that serves the Caribbean island of Curaçao. The agreement will see Wärtsilä’s payments directly tied to achieving key performance indicators: how effectively it maximises renewable energy use, reducing CO2 emissions intensity, lowering costs, and enhancing energy reliability on Curaçao.
The five-year agreement is intended to enable Wärtsilä to optimise the energy generation on the island, in collaboration with Aqualectra, providing a significant step towards Curaçao’s achieving its target of moving from its current 30 % renewable capacity to 50 % in 2025 and 70 % by at least 2027.
To support Curaçao’s decarbonisation efforts, Wärtsilä will make use of energy storage, grid balancing engines and its GEMS digital energy platform to optimise energy use across the island, delivering the flexibility required to maximise existing renewable and fossil based generation assets and future renewable deployments. The partnership will also see Wärtsilä install a new 38.4 MW grid balancing power plant and a 25 MW/45 MWh energy storage system.
Anders Lindberg, president of Wärtsilä Energy and EVP Wärtsilä, said: “Our unique partnership with Aqualectra and the island of Curaçao demonstrates the benefits of connected, strategic system planning to accelerate decarbonisation. We expect it to be the first of many, as we collaborate with other micro-grids, such as island nations and even heavy industries such as mining, to tackle decarbonisation head-on”.
Through this partnership Curaçao residents will benefit from more affordable, sustainable, and reliable electricity supply, with Wärtsilä also delivering on-the-ground expertise to support Aqualectra’s skilled team.
Aqualectra reached a renewable penetration of at least 30% as baseload in the last decade and now sees the opportunity to further it beyond 50% while minimising spinning reserves and thereby optimising fuel usage on grid balancing engines. These results should also lower the impact on the environment and have a significant impact on lowering the tariff for the community of Curaçao.
The project is underpinned by rigorous short-term and long-term analysis and modelling by Wärtsilä in collaboration with Aqualectra, which has enabled the company to develop a clear decarbonisation and optimisation roadmap for the islanded grid.
