Wärtsilä supplying 70 MW captive power plant

Wärtsilä will supply a 70 MW captive power plant for the BUA’s new Sokoto cement production plant in Nigeria. The new plant is required to supply the energy for an off grid additional cement production line.

This follows an order for a 50 MW power plant from the same customer just two years earlier. The plant will operate on seven Wärtsilä 34DF engines scheduled for delivery mid-2022. The plant is expected to be fully operational in 2023.

Both the current and 2019 orders feature Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines operating primarily with liquefied natural gas (LNG), but with the flexibility to switch to an alternative fuel oil should there be interruptions to the gas supply, quality or pressure. Operation of the Wärtsilä engines is not affected by these interruptions.

“Wärtsilä’s dual-fuel engine technology is particularly valuable where the primary fuel supply cannot be totally trusted. The flexibility and reliability of our solution were major considerations in the award of this contract, added to which the ability to operate on LNG considerably lessens the facility’s carbon footprint,” said Marc Thiriet, Energy Business Director, Africa West, Wärtsilä.

BUA Group, through its cement subsidiary, BUA Cement Plc, is one of Nigeria’s largest cement producers with operations spread across Nigeria. In addition to the environmental sustainability benefit, it is estimated that the Wärtsilä solution will result in fuel cost savings of approximately 30% compared to the existing power plants operating on heavy fuel oil (HFO). Furthermore, the operational flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines provides future-proofing advantages enabling the potential use of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind.