MAN Energy Solutions to Build CHP Plant in Honduras

MAN Energy Solutions has won an EPC-contract to set up a highly efficient, combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant for Progressive Energy, the energy arm of the ElcaTex Group in Choloma, Honduras. The plant will be powered by 3 × MAN 18V51/60 engines with an overall capacity of 54.8 Megawatt (MW), generating power and steam for a nearby textile factory.

MAN Energy Solutions will take an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) role in the project and will be responsible for the construction of the entire plant.

For Mario Canahuati, Corporative Energy Director at Progressive Energy, this is an important milestone in their corporate strategy: “For textile manufacturing, steam is as important as power, which is why we were looking for a solution to efficiently produce electricity as well as steam to drive our manufacturing footprint. MAN Energy Solutions has proved to be the right partner and has developed a highly-efficient CHP solution that is tailored to our needs. Thanks to the new plant, we will be able to increase our energy efficiency while becoming more autonomous in our steam supply chain.”

Thorsten Dradrach, Head of Sales for Power Plants in the Americas, MAN Energy Solutions, said: “MAN Energy Solutions offers the widest CHP generation portfolio available on the market and we are very happy to help Progressive Energy to maximize the overalll efficiency. Our modular CHP plant concept which is scalable from 7 MW upwards is a major additional benefit we can provide to industrial customers as part of their plant solution.”

Scheduled conversion to gas

While the MAN 51/60 engines will operate on heavy fuel oil (HFO) once the new plant opens, Progressive Energy plans to convert them to gas operation as soon as a secure supply of LNG (Liquid Natural Gas, LNG) becomes available.

“The Central American market is experiencing a major trend towards gas driven power solutions using various gas supply infrastructure models,” explains Carina Viola, the responsible Sales Director for Central America at MAN Energy Solutions. “This is why we decided to choose our 18V51/60 engine for this market environment as it provides the highest efficiency and fuel flexibility. The switch to gas will reduce the plant’s emissions even further.”