Wärtsilä of Finland runs 400+MW plants for Nigerian cement industry 

• Gets new 50MW deal with Mangal in  Kogi

Ben Eguzozie

Technology group Wärtsilä, which is listed on NASDAQ Helsinki, has signed a 10-year operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement for a captive power plant providing the energy for the Nigerian cement producing facility located in Kogi State.

The new cement plant is owned by Mangal Industries, and the order was booked by Wärtsilä in Q2, 2024.

The power plant is critical to the facility’s cement production since the site is remotely located with limited access to the electricity grid. It operates with five Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines delivering an output of 50 MW.

The agreement brings to the fore the huge involvement of Wärtsilä in the provision of captive power facilities in the Nigerian cement industry as it now ramps up its installed O&M capacity for the sector to well over 400 MW the company said in a statement made available to Business a.m.

Patrick Borstner, director of operations Africa at Wärtsilä Energy, said: “Wärtsilä now has more than 400 MW of installed capacity for the cement industry in Nigeria, and we are operating three captive power plants in three different states. This successful track record clearly indicates our capabilities and highlights the added value we can deliver to our customers through our experience and expertise in supporting their operations”.

The latest O&M agreement is designed to ensure that the facility can reliably maintain its cement production target of three million metric tonnes per year.

Fahad Mangal, managing director of Mangal Industries Ltd, said his company is reliant on the power plant for its operations.

“This is why we have opted to take advantage of Wärtsilä’s depth of experience and know-how to run and maintain the power plant. Not only will the agreement provide the assured reliability we need, but it also gives us cost predictability,” he said.

The 10-year agreement starts immediately as the facility commences operations in Q2, 2024, running on liquid fuel initially. The facility will switch to natural gas operation when the natural gas pipeline is commissioned. The power plant’s dual-fuel engines can be operated both on liquid fuel and natural gas; and could be converted to operate with future low- or zero-carbon fuels when they become available.

Nigeria has an increasing demand for cement for its many infrastructure projects, and there has been a domestic supply gap. Available data show that the country needs at least N2.1 trillion ($5 billion) in investment to meet the local cement supply gap.

Additionally, Nigeria, with 123 kg of cement per person, has one of the lowest per capita consumption of cement in the world, trailing Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Egypt, among others, on the African continent.

The world’s average per capita consumption in cement is 650kg per person which is 13 bags per person.

Nigeria is still in underproduction in cement. As of 2021, the consumption and demand was about 30 million tonnes per annum whereas the country should be aiming for 60 million to 70 million tonnes per annum. 

With this new plant, Mangal will partly address this issue.

Wärtsilä Energy, which is based in Finland, is a global leader in innovative technologies and lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets, emphasising innovation in sustainable technology and services to help its clients continuously improve environmental and economic performance. With operations in more than 280 locations in 79 countries, Wärtsilä Energy says it is shaping the decarbonisation transformation of its industries across the globe. In 2023, the energy company’s net sales totalled EUR 6.0 billion.