Wärtsilä’s first unit at Porto do Açu in São João da Barra (RJ), Brazil, is today being inaugurated. This will be the first assembly plant and production unit for generator sets and azimuth thrusters in Brazil for Wärtsilä, the global leader in providing power generation solutions and services for ships and power plants. Covering 4000 square meters of floor space, the unit will be able to receive up to 200 tons of equipment. This is Wärtsilä’s first ever multi-product factory that has been built from scratch.
The new unit represents an investment of 20 million euros of equity capital from Wärtsilä Brazil. "The investment in the plant strengthens our presence in Brazil to meet the growing demand for Wärtsilä’s products and services, in addition to meeting the requirements of local content, especially in the offshore industry," says Robson Campos, President of Wärtsilä in Brazil.
In its initial phase, the activities of the multi-product factory will focus on midsize generators and azimuth thrusters, with the possibility of expanding the product portfolio according to market needs. The unit has already received six engines from Finland to set up motor generators, six propellers from Wärtsilä in Spain, and hundreds of parts fabricated and machined in Brazil for the production of the first thrusters produced by the company in the country.
For Luiz Barcellos, Director of the Ship Power Division, the new unit is of strategic importance to the company in Brazil. "Our objective is to create a frame of reference for Wärtsilä in the country and to occupy a leading market position within the industry in which we operate," he says.
The factory will employ approximately 50 employees, including professionals from Brazil, Italy, India, Finland and the Netherlands. They will be responsible for the different stages of the production process and testing for the two product lines: motor generators and thrusters.
Wärtsilä arrived in Brazil in 1990, where it employs over 700 staff. In addition to its office headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Wärtsilä has service centers in Niterói (RJ), Manaus (AM) and Pernambuco (PE), besides being present in six other states. The company has designed and built 30 plants in the country and exceeded the 2.6-GW mark in installed capacity. In the naval market in Brazil, the company has increased installed capacity to over 1000 MW in more than 200 ships and boats.