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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (March 20, 2018) — Burns & McDonnell has been selected by Entergy New Orleans as engineer-procure-construct (EPC) project manager for a new 128-megawatt gas-fired power plant located within the city’s borders. The New Orleans Power Station will be located on the same site as the now-retired Michoud power plant, which was shut down due to economic and operational considerations. Burns & McDonnell has been provided full notice to proceed and design work is now underway. Construction is expected to begin later in 2018 and the new plant is expected to be commissioned and fully operational by January 2020.

The $210 million New Orleans Power Station will feature Wärtsilä reciprocating engine technology for its proven performance in providing flexible, fast-start power that can be ramped up or down quickly as system demands dictate. Each of the seven Wärtsilä 50SG reciprocating engines to be installed within the power facility can be separately dispatched, even during a “black start” scenario such as a major storm, when no power is available on the surrounding grid.

The power technology sourced by Burns & McDonnell is part of the Wärtsilä Smart Power Generation group. The natural-gas fired engines offer a high level of dispatch flexibility for the facility since each can provide continuous efficient operation from 25-100 percent of its rated output.

“Reciprocating engine technology has proven to be an excellent way to balance the intermittency of power output from renewable sources,” says Rick Halil, President and General Manager of Burns & McDonnell’s Energy Division. “We have designed and built a majority of the utility-scale reciprocating engine projects in the country as more and more utilities turn to reciprocating engines to balance their power needs with renewables.”

“Our technology represents the best fit and most competitively priced option for Entergy New Orleans,” says Javier Cavada, President, Wärtsilä Energy Solutions. “Wärtsilä’s Smart Power Generation solution offers the flexibility needed to go offline and restart quickly multiple times per day.”

About Entergy New Orleans

Entergy New Orleans, LLC is an electric and gas utility that serves Louisiana's Orleans Parish. The company provides electricity to more than 200,000 customers and natural gas to more than 106,000 customers. The company is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a 100-percent employee-owned firm providing innovative engineering, quality projects and constructed value to electric and gas utilities, industries and a range of power providers throughout North America and abroad. With more than 6,100 employee-owners working from more than 40 offices, Burns & McDonnell is proud to be on Fortune’s 2018 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. 

About Wärtsilä Energy Solutions

Wärtsilä Energy Solutions is a leading global energy system integrator offering a broad range of environmentally sound solutions. Our offering includes ultra-flexible internal combustion engine-based power plants, utility-scale solar PV power plants, energy storage & integration solutions, as well as LNG terminals and distribution systems. The flexible and efficient Wärtsilä solutions provide customers with superior value and enable a transition to a more sustainable and modern energy system. At the end of 2017, Wärtsilä had 67 gigawatts (GW) of installed power capacity in 177 countries around the world.