Wärtsilä Energy, BUA Group Strengthen Relationship For Higher Productivity

<p><em>Wärtsilä Energy&comma; BUA Group<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> has been reliably informed that the technology group&comma; <strong>Wärtsilä<&sol;strong> Energy&comma; will supply a 70 MW captive power plant for the BUA&&num;8217&semi;s new Sokoto cement production plant in Nigeria&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This is contained in a statement signed by Jonathan Collings of Alesia Communications and made available to OpenLife&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to the statement&comma; the new plant is required to supply the energy for an off grid additional cement production line&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This follows an order for a 50 MW power plant from the same customer just two years earlier&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This latest extended engineering and equipment order was booked in Wärtsilä&&num;8217&semi;s order intake in October 2021&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Both the current and 2019 orders feature Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines operating primarily with liquefied natural gas &lpar;LNG&rpar;&comma; but with the flexibility to switch to an alternative fuel oil should there be interruptions to the gas supply&comma; quality or pressure&period; Operation of the Wärtsilä engines is not affected by these interruptions&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;To maintain our cement production requirements in line with our schedules and economic forecasts&comma; we need reliable&comma; fuel-efficient power generation&period; We also need capable and reliable after-market support&comma; and in all these areas Wärtsilä is a strong partner with their local presence to provide excellent service&period; The decision to issue a repeat order for the new power plant from Wärtsilä was not&comma; therefore&comma; difficult to make&comma;&&num;8221&semi; commented <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Abdul Samad Rabiu&comma;<&sol;a> CON&comma; Chairman&comma; BUA Cement and BUA Group&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Wärtsilä&&num;8217&semi;s dual-fuel engine technology is particularly valuable where the primary fuel supply cannot be totally trusted&period; The flexibility and reliability of our solution were major considerations in the award of this contract&comma; added to which the ability to operate on LNG considerably lessens the facility&&num;8217&semi;s carbon footprint&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Marc Thiriet&comma; Energy Business Director&comma; Africa West&comma; Wärtsilä&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;BUA Group&comma; through its cement subsidiary&comma; BUA Cement Plc&comma; is one of Nigeria&&num;8217&semi;s largest cement producers with operations spread across Nigeria&period; In addition to the environmental sustainability benefit&comma; it is estimated that the Wärtsilä solution will result in fuel cost savings of approximately 30 percent compared to the existing power plants operating on heavy fuel oil &lpar;HFO&rpar;&period; Furthermore&comma; the operational flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines provides future-proofing advantages enabling the potential use of energy from renewable sources&comma; such as solar and wind&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The plant will operate on seven Wärtsilä 34DF engines scheduled for delivery mid-2022&period; The plant is expected to be fully operational in 2023&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Wärtsilä holds a strong position in Nigeria&&num;8217&semi;s power generation market&period; Together with its installed base&comma; this and other orders will bring the company&&num;8217&semi;s share to more than 800 MW&period; On the African continent as a whole&comma; Wärtsilä has an installed base of more than 7000 MW&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;