The technology has been trialled extensively and successfully by Wärtsilä's global parent company.
The company has used a Wärtsilä 20V32 Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engine with an electrical output of around nine MW to sufficiently serve some 20,000 households with total energy requirements in Belgium.
This installation uses heat from digested biomass processing and the resulting electricity is sold to the local power grid.
"As a company, Wa?rtsila? is committed to being at the cutting edge of new green fuel technology and we have the runs on the board when it comes to using alternative fuels," Wa?rtsila? Australia's General Manager of Services Sales David Trench said.
"We are staffed with technical experts looking to further this knowledge through research and development - both here in Australia as well as overseas."
Trench said Jatropha oil was cheaper than crude oil, costing an estimated $43 a barrel.
Jatropha oil can be relatively easily processed into biodiesel.
Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees, which is native to Central America and has become naturalised in many tropical and subtropical areas, including India, Africa, and North America.
On January 7 2009, Continental Airlines successfully completed a test flight from Houston, Texas using a 50/50 mixture of algae/jatropha oil-derived biofuel in one of the two CFM56 engines of a Boeing 737-800.
Closer to home, Air New Zealand has announced plans to use the new fuel for 10 per cent of its needs by 2013.