Power barge

Power Barge

Barge Mounted Power Plant

Floating Power Plant

A power plant installed on a deck barge. The type of power plants include; single or multiple gas turbine(s); reciprocating diesel engine(s); boiler (s) or nuclear reactors. Power Barges are sometimes referred to as a barge mounted power plant or a floating power plant.

They were initially developed during World War II by General Electric for the War Production Board as a transportable large scale power generation resource.

They primarily perform in a variety of applications such as base load, emergency and temporary power, transportable power or in power generation projects where local construction costs and risks run high. Power barges can also be permanently installed and will operate similarly to a land based plant for the same duration.

Power barges are in demand for their short construction cycles, flexibility in deployment, minimal land requirements and unique maritime financing. The capital costs of constructing and operating power barges are very competitive with their land-based equivalents.

[1] This is a 105MW Westinghouse 501D5 gas turbine power barge with fuel barge loaded out for sea transport on a Dockwise heavy lift ship.