MAN Diesel & Turbo and EDF-PEI Open Power Plant on Martinique

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Twelve type 18V48/60 engines produce power for the Caribbean island

Leading a consortium on the Caribbean island of Martinique MAN Diesel Turbo has completed the second of a total of three power plants the company is building for the French energy supplier Électricité de France (EDF). MAN Diesel Turbo has been responsible for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) as well as for commissioning of the engines.

The plant, located in Bellefontaine, in the west of the island, was inaugurated at a ceremony on 27 June. It has a capacity of 220 MW and covers around 60 percent of the island’s power needs. It replaces the former power plant, which is around 30 years old. 

Particular attention was paid to the plant’s environmental compatibility and energy efficiency. Fuel consumption was reduced by 15 percent and nitrous oxide emissions by 85 percent compared to the previous plant. 

Water resources are also spared, since the power plant can cover its requirements using desalinated sea water instead of ground water. Dry coolers also allow annual water savings of 700,000 m3. This is the equivalent of the annual consumption of around 10,000 households. The heat from the engines is also used to generate the hot water required at the site.

With its 110-meter-tall chimney, which was custom-made for the plant, the new power plant is the island’s tallest building and complies with particularly stringent safety standards. “Martinique lies in a danger zone for earthquakes and hurricanes,” explains Dr. Hermann Kröger, Senior Vice President and Project Director for EDF at MAN Diesel Turbo. “In its dimension and design the chimney has been constructed to sway at its highest point by only one meter even in the event of an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale and a simultaneous hurricane.” 

The around thirty-year-old former power plant on the island was also powered by 10 MAN Pielstick engines. “The new power plant refreshes a decades-old cooperation,” says Jean-Michel Lebeau, CEO EDF Production Electrique Insulaire. “It safeguards the island’s reliable supply with electrical energy and satisfies high safety and environmental standards. We thank MAN Diesel Turbo for the great collaboration.” 

“Following the power plant on La Réunion last year, we are handing over the second of a total of three island power plants to EDF-PEI in Martinique. We are grateful to EDF and our consortium partners for their professional cooperation, but especially to the employees whose unfailing dedication has made this milestone possible,” says Dr. Kröger.