Ceiba Energy and INNIO Group: Collaborating to power the Amazon region

What it has lacked, however, was a sufficient power supply. That’s as power demand in Manaus – already plagued with continuous power disruptions and distribution difficulties – is expected to double by 2025.

Jenbacher

Jenbacher J620
engine upgrades

2025

power demand in Brazil
likely will double

2030

Brazil plans to cut
carbon emissions
by 50%

To meet current and future power demand, Manaus requires power generation that is flexible, scalable, and resilient

Enter Houston based Ceiba Energy, an owner, developer, and operator of clean, sustainable power generation assets in Latin America. The company is fully backed by Denham Capital, a private equity firm that focuses on three main sectors including sustainable infrastructure, energy resources, and mining. Seeking to support Brazil’s goal to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions while meeting Manaus’ growing demand for electricity, in 2021 Ceiba Energy acquired 100% of Breitener Energética S.A., which owned and operated two power plants, Jaraqui and Tambaqui, in Manaus. The plants originally had run on heavy fuel oil, but in 2010, Breitener Energética had converted them to natural gas operation, installing 23 of INNIO Group ’s Jenbacher J620 engines at each site. The two power plants generate a combined 120 MW, about 30% of the power for Manaus. Both power plants operate on pipeline gas from Urucu in northern Brazil.

With power demand in Manaus expected to double by 2025, we needed to revitalize our power plants while also reducing the outage risks, boosting the performance and productivity of the plants’ assets to provide the power Manaus needs 24/7 and 365 days per year. The plants’ revitalization makes a major positive impact on our operations. INNIO Group’s technology offers our power plants flexible and resilient solutions that meet all our power needs.

Janvier A. Marrero, Chief Operating Officer, Ceiba Energy

Overhauls bring renewed life to Jenbacher engines

Ceiba Energy understood that the sure path to cleaner and more efficient power is through technology and digitalization. Modernizing its newly acquired power plants, which had logged more than 60,000 operating hours, would be key in meeting Manaus’ energy demand by enabling a constant and reliable electricity supply. Ceiba Energy chose to give the power plants a second life with new exchange engines from the INNIO Group. The latest technology would help the power plants continue to increase power and efficiency to meet the area’s rapidly changing energy needs. The Jenbacher local team in Manaus delivered premium longblocks as exchange units for the existing ones directly to the plants. The units had been preassembled to facilitate the installation on site.

The revitalization of the large engine power plants in Manaus serves as a great example of how R&D capabilities give products a second life, providing investment security for our customers at the end of the engine’s lifecycle. The engines can be reused and even upgraded to increase efficiency and meet the latest environmental requirements. This is a very sustainable path to support Manaus’ growing power demand. INNIO Group helps customers like Ceiba Energy get more environmentally friendly electricity by providing flexible, scalable, and resilient solutions that allow them to navigate the fast-changing energy landscape of traditional and green energy sources.

Carl Richers, Vice President Product Management & Marketing for INNIO Group’s Jenbacher Brand