10 April 2006 -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) selected Wärtsilä Corporation to deliver a 163-MW gas-fired power plant that will be located in Humboldt Bay near Eureka in northern California and is expected to enter commercial operation by mid-2009. PG&E selected Wärtsilä's technology in order to repower their existing Humboldt Bay plant. The new facility will be 35% more efficient with 90% fewer air emissions.

For the Humboldt Bay power plant, Wärtsilä will deliver 10 Wärtsilä 18V50DF lean-burn dual-fuel engines on an engineering, procurement and construction basis. The engines will be fuelled by natural gas, and will be capable of using fuel oil as back-up during times of natural gas curtailment. The 163-MW plant will produce electricity for the local grid in California's north coast. The plant will produce enough electricity to serve roughly 125,000 California homes.

"This project marks a significant entry for Wärtsilä in California. Wärtsilä gas engine technology is an outstanding choice for the utility's energy shaping requirements, as well as for the state of California's increasing environmental concerns. Our technology offers high simple cycle efficiency on full and part load as well as other ancillary service benefits that make the Wärtsilä solution a natural choice for this operation," says Mr. Frank Donnelly, Vice President, Power Plants, Wärtsilä North America.

The agreement is subject to the approval of the California Public Utility Commission and environmental permits issued by the California Energy Commission.