Dual fuel engine order for power ship conversion project

MAN Diesel has signed a contract with the Turkish company Karadeniz Powership Company Ltd, worth over 100 million euros.

The Augsburg-based manufacturer of large-bore diesel engines is to supply up to a total of 24 engines, together with electromechanical equipment needed for the generation of electricity. The contract includes twenty-one 18V51/60DF dual-fuel engines and three type 14V48/60 HFO engines, with a total output of 400 MW. The large-bore diesel engines are to be installed on board four power ships, the first of their kind to be used in the world.

The ships in question are former freighters which are to be converted into floating diesel power plants. Thanks to their mobility, they can be connected to local power grids to temporarily cover demands whenever onsite power plants are insufficient or new power plants cannot be built quickly enough. Unlike so-called ?power barges? ? power plants on pontoons ? the ?power ships? are equipped with their own propulsion engines and therefore do not need to be towed. They are expected to be used in Africa, Pakistan and other regions in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean.

The MAN Diesel dual-fuel engines are characterised by the fact that they can be powered by either liquid fuels or gas. “Our dual-fuel engines are ideal for this purpose. The ships will be able to use whatever the infrastructure available at the site on which they are needed ? regardless of whether they are fuelled by oil or gas,” says Dr. Stephan Mey, head of the power plant business at MAN Diesel. And one further advantage with the dual-fuel engines is that when powered by gas, in particular, they ensure extremely low-emission and therefore ecologically friendly combustion.

The 51/60DF engine was first used on liquid gas tankers, on which evaporated gas from the cargo tanks can be used to power the engine. MAN Diesel DF engines have been gaining in popularity in the power generation industry for some time now, thanks to their efficiency, fuel flexibility and environmental benefits ? all of them factors which have enabled this relatively new engine to quickly establish itself on the market. MAN Diesel has recently received similar orders from Brazil and Australia.