Southern Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with Wärtsilä to develop two large-scale flexible gas-fired power plants in the USA.

Under the agreement, Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, will lead project development and Wärtsilä will provide technical and commercial support. Wärtsilä and Southern Power would build the power plants jointly and Wärtsilä’s scope would be extended equipment supply.

Southern said in a statement that flexible gas plant could be “an excellent solution” to the challenges brought by the rapid growth in intermittent renewables. The two power plants could be as large as 450 MW each.

“The intention of Southern Power to invest in developing large projects with our flexible gas technology is a major milestone for our systematic market development in the USA,” said Jussi Heikkinen, Market Development Director at Wärtsilä North America Inc. “We will provide our full support to Southern Power for the project development, and hope that this co-operation will lead to more similar projects in the future.”