nigeria

UK-based power provider Clarke Energy is to deliver five diesel engines to Nigerian company Lagos’ Flour Mills.

The diesel engines are designed to deliver up to 12.5MW of electrical power. The delivery is aimed to help the country’s energy distribution challenges and encourage the growing industrial sector.

Two of the engines will be used at the Kano facility in northern Nigeria, in order to maintain power for production. The General Electric engines will deliver 5 MW of baseload electrical power, with an expected capital payback in less than 12 months on diesel fuel cost savings. The other three engines will be installed at Flour Mills' headquarters in Lagos that already uses 11 of GE’s J620 gas engines. The diesel engines are aimed to provide backup power.

“As Nigeria continues to grow its industrial might in the global economy, we have opted to invest in General Electric’s new 616 diesel engines to deliver higher fuel efficiency at our sites in Lagos and Kano,” said Paul Gbededo, chief executive officer, Flour Mills of Nigeria.

“Our new 616 diesel engine is the first high-speed model for power generation, allowing us to serve customers with a wider reciprocating engine portfolio,” said Cory Nelson, general manager diesel engines of General Electric’s distributed power business.

Power management company Eaton has opened an office in Nigeria’s capital Lagos.

“The development and use of innovative technologies is critical in increasing energy efficiency in Africa,” said Shane Kilfoil, managing director of Eaton’s Electrical Sector in Africa.

The company explained that the increasing demand of electricity due to Nigeria’s business growth has led to the decision to expand in Africa. “Africa’s energy challenges lie not in building more and larger power generation plants, but instead in investment in advanced power management technologies to enable businesses to do more with less energy in an increasingly resource constrained world,” Kilfoil added.

Nigeria’s federal government is currently restructuring the country’s electricity market. “The reform will enable Nigeria to overcome its huge deficit in the supply of electricity,” said Charles Iyo regional sales manager West Africa at Eaton.

The office in Lagos will also provide services to Western Africa. Eaton has several offices in Africa and 300,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space on the continent for the production of its critical power supplies.