FGH Delivers Power Barges

Waller Marine, Inc., took delivery of two 30 MW power barges from the Friede Goldman Offshore shipyard, Pascagoula, MS, in April 2001 and immediately loaded the vessels on the M.V. Smit Express for their dry tow to Lagos, Nigeria. The 60 MWs of power will be connected to other similar vessels, delivering much needed electricity to the city of Lagos. Each power barge was designed by Waller to ABS River Rule standards, each supporting a single General Electric, frame 6B, industrial gas turbine generator set, controls, switchgear, main transformer and associated equipment. Waller contracted Friede Goldman for the vessel's construction, installation and testing under a fast track schedule to deliver the units to Lagos. Waller is currently designing power barges for installation in U.S. locations. The company is negotiating EPC contracts for the design, construction and installation of several power barges for clients in western and north east coast states of the U.S. These barges range in capacity from 80 MW to several hundred megawatts and will use aero derivative and industrial gas turbines from various manufacturers in both simple cycle and combined cycle form. The rationale for power barge operations in the United States is their relatively fast delivery and installation in areas that are in urgent need of additional capacity. Many heavily populated locations in the U.S. are seriously short of capacity, which will become increasingly evident during the summer months should temperatures be higher than average. Waller Marine, Inc., is a full service marine engineering, project management company, located in Houston, Texas.