Wärtsilä inks contract to decarbonise power plant in Madagascar

Technology group Wärtsilä has expanded an existing Operations and Maintenance (O&M) agreement with QIT Madagascar Minerals S.A (QMM), to optimise and decarbonise energy assets.

QMM, part of the Rio Tinto group, is looking to increase efficiency and decrease emissions of its microgrid as well as its 24MW engine power plant located at the company’s ilmenite mineral sands mine at Fort Dauphin in south-eastern Madagascar.

Under the agreement, Wärtsilä will deploy its GEMS Digital Energy Platform to optimise the dispatch of the plant’s six Wärtsilä 32 engines and QMM’s battery energy storage and renewable assets.

The hybrid power plant supplies the electricity required to operate the mine and also to the nearby town of Fort Dauphin.

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Jean-Francois Richer, director integrated operational services at QMM, commented in a statement: “The reliability and efficiency of the power plant are critical to our operations, and we are therefore excited to extend this agreement. The renewed agreement allows us take advantage of Wärtsilä’s competence in power system optimisation and use renewables in the most efficient way, supporting Rio Tinto’s decarbonisation objectives and sustainable mining vision.”

“Our Decarbonisation Agreement is taking energy optimisation to a new level by enabling cost savings, a reduced environmental footprint, and higher efficiency. What is more, the partnership is outcome-based with mutual incentives. This is the way forward in making decarbonised operations a viable reality,” says Christoffer Ek, director of decarbonisation services at Wärtsilä Energy.

QMM's renewables focus

QMM is working towards achieving carbon neutrality. To this end, the mining firm partnered with independent power producer CrossBoundary Energy in 2021 to build a 20MW solar and wind energy plant to power operations.

Once operational, it will provide 60% of QMM’s power and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 26,000 tonnes.

In 2023, QMM commissioned an 8MW solar plant and a 6MW extension of this solar plant has recently been approved.

Currently, QMM provides access to subsidised electricity to nearly 80,000 residents in Fort Dauphin through a partnership with JIRAMA, Madagascar's national electricity company.