The technology group Wärtsilä has received contracts from PT Freeport Indonesia for a 128 MW power plant to supply electricity to the Grasberg mine.
The plant will be located at Amamapare, PT Freeport Indonesia’s port site in Papua. From here, the electricity will be fed to the Grasberg mine through a 100-km-long transmission line.
The new plant will facilitate the extension of operations from openpit to underground mining at Grasberg, which is in the remote highlands of the Sudirman mountain range in the province of Papua, western half of the island of New Guinea.
“We have completed openpit mining at the Grasberg minerals district, and are now developing large-scale, high-grade underground mines. For this it is critical that we have a reliable and efficient energy supply, and the Wärtsilä generating sets will deliver the power we need,” commented PT Freeport Indonesia executive VP George Baninni in a statement issued by Wärtsilä.
The extended engineered equipment delivery order comprises 14 Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel generating sets. The order for eight generating sets was placed in June, and a further six generating sets were ordered in September.
The Wärtsilä 34DF engines can operate on a variety of fuels. This flexibility will allow the plant to switch to operating on natural gas when it becomes locally available. Initially, the engines will run on Indonesian B30 biodiesel. The fast-starting flexibility of the engines will also enable the integration of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, in the future.
The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for delivery between July and November 2021. The first seven engines are expected to be officially handed over in March 2022, with the remaining seven to be handed over in July 2022.
A consortium consisting of Wärtsilä and PT PP will install, construct and commission the power plant.