E&P Company Spirit Energy has raised production from its key North Sea gas field after a successful drilling campaign worth £68.5 million ($88 million).
Spirit Energy said in January 2018 it would extend the life of Chiswick field in Southern North Sea by tapping into new reserves and bring around a further 50 billion cubic feet of gas on stream.
First gas from a new well at Spirit Energy’s Chiswick field in the Southern North Sea was achieved in July 2019. It has added up to an additional 25 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to the field, with further work to come later this year, the company announced on Tuesday, October 29.
The Chiswick field, located around 75 miles off the coast of Norfolk, has been producing gas since 2007. The new well, named C5Y, brings overall production from the Greater Markham Area to 50 million standard cubic feet of gas per day – enough to heat 427,000 UK homes. The Greater Markham Area hub spans both the UK and Dutch Continental Shelves, and comprises the Markham, Chiswick, Grove, and Kew fields.
The development well is just one part of a campaign to boost production from the Chiswick field, with the Noble Hans Deul jack-up rig returning to the area later this year to carry out work on the C4 well which will further improve production for the asset.
“The Greater Markham Area is an important part of our business, and so our team has spent a lot of time looking for opportunities to build on these fields and add further production. Data from the newly drilled C5 well will help to screen further new opportunities in the Chiswick field,” Girish Kabra, Director of Spirit Energy’s North Sea Operated Assets stated.
“From exploration and appraisal wells, through development drilling and making sure we plug and abandon old wells, this year has been one of Spirit Energy’s most active in the North Sea and we are looking forward to returning to Chiswick later this year to carry out further work and potentially add additional barrels of production,” he added.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
BP’s third-quarter results took a hit due to lower oil prices, maintenance works, hurricane impacts, and a divestment charge.
Underlying replacement cost profit for the third quarter of 2019 was $2.3 billion, compared to $3.8 billion a year earlier. The result was impacted by significantly lower upstream earnings, resulting from lower prices, maintenance and weather impacts, BP said.
Brent crude averaged $62 in the third quarter of 2019, down from $75 in the third quarter of 2018.
The company on Tuesday reported a third-quarter loss of $749 million, down from a profit of $3.3 billion a year ago, citing a divestment-related, non-cash, non-operating after-tax charge of $2.6 billion.
Reported oil and gas production for the quarter averaged 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, an increase compared to 3.6 million barrels of oil equivalent a day a year earlier.
Underlying Upstream production, excluding Rosneft in which BP has a stake, was down 2.5% from a year earlier, reflecting maintenance across a number of regions and Hurricane Barry shutting BP’s US Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms for two weeks.
“BP delivered strong operating cash flow and underlying earnings in a quarter that saw lower oil and gas prices and significant hurricane impacts. Our focus remains firmly on maintaining financial discipline and delivering safe and reliable operations throughout BP. We’re also continuing to advance our strategy, making strong progress with our divestment plans and building exciting new opportunities in fast-growing downstream markets in Asia,” Bob Dudley, BP chief executive who is soon to retire, said.
Looking ahead, BP said it expected the fourth-quarter 2019 reported production to be higher than the third quarter due to the completion of seasonal maintenance and turnaround activities.
The Chamber of Independent Power Producers,Distributors and Bulk Consumers (CIPDiB) in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa, has asked the Akufo-Addo-administration to prioritise the energy sector by paying the $1.5 billion debt owed its members as soon as possible to guarantee continuous supply of power.
The chamber, in a statement signed by Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor, CEO of CIPDiB, expressed worry over the breakdown of trust by the ECG and for that matter the government of Ghana.
According to the chamber, it was made to believe that the private sector participation in the electricity distribution business by PDS would bring an end to the delays in payment of power supplied to the state by its members.
However, CIPDiB noted in the statement that GoG/ECG did not honour their obligations.
“Sadly, the reality we have experienced is that the receivable accounts position of the Independent Power Producers has deteriorated since the PDS arrangement came into effect.
“When on the 8th of July 2019 the CIPDiB issued a statement about having gone for four months without any payment, PDS came out in rebuttal, claiming they had honoured their obligations to ECG. This was later found out to be untrue.
“The cumulative outstanding debt position of the GoG/ECG to IPPs alone has escalated to about USD$1.5 billion.
“The CIPDiB is once again compelled to ask that payment of the obligations of GoG/ECG be made as a matter of urgency. Immediate disbursement from funds that have been built up in the PDS accounts is essential to enable us continue to produce
Below is the full statement
Strengthening the power sector – a national priority.
Strengthening the power sector, particularly the electricity distribution sub-sector, was a key rationale for private sector participation in ECG. The technical and financial capability of the selected private sector partner would address the need for additional investment in the distribution system complementing the US$500 million that would be provided by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
For us, members of the Chamber of Independent Power Producers, who provide over
2500MW reliable power generation capacity (representing over 60% of the total
generation in the power sector of Ghana), there were assurances that with private sector
participation in ECG, delays in being paid for the power we generate would be a thing of
the past. During countless stakeholder engagement sessions, MiDA and its Transaction Adviser, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), trumpeted these anticipated benefits of private sector participation.
It was indicated that, under the concession arrangement, the concessionaire would be
paying in full all invoices of the power producers within 10 days.
The concessionaire was also to put in place a revolving letter of credit which could be called upon on the 11th day for settlement of the invoices.
Furthermore, the concessionaire was expected to replenish the revolving letter of credit in two weeks to ensure that there was always sufficient funding to cover the power produced by the Generators. Sadly, the reality we have experienced is that the receivable accounts position of the Independent Power Producers has deteriorated since the PDS arrangement came into effect!
When on the 8th of July 2019, the CIPDiB issued a statement about having gone for four months without any payment, PDS came out in rebuttal claiming they had honored their obligations to ECG. This was later found out to be untrue!
The cumulative outstanding debt position of the GoG/ECG to IPPs alone has escalated to about USD$1.5 Billion! The CIPDiB is once again compelled to ask that payment of the obligations of GoG/ECG be made as a matter of urgency. Immediate disbursement from funds that have been built up in PDS accounts is essential to enable us continue to produce
The energy sector is clearly under serious threat and we would urge the Government of Ghana and its agencies, including ECG and MiDA, as well as the MCC to co-operate to ensure that decisions are taken that enable Ghanaians to have access, affordably, to reliable energy supply.
The CIPDiB, as a key stakeholder in the sector, is willing to engage in consultations about the process of securing private investment in the electricity distribution sub-sector in Ghana, and the interface with the generation sub-sector.
Our experience in bringing in billions of dollars of private sector investment into power
generation in Ghana makes us confident that this can also be done in the distribution
subsector.
With credible, transparent and fair processes, the right caliber of investors can
be attracted.
We remain committed to helping Ghana strengthen its power sector so as to serve the
needs of Ghanaians.
Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor
Chief Executive Officer.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Trump administration showed support for energy innovation in the United States this week, issuing a report that directly outlines how U.S. shale production is positively impacting both the economy and the environment.
Speaking at the 9th Annual Shale Insight Conference in Pittsburgh, President Donald Trump said that shale production is “saving energy producers millions of dollars in compliance costs, while maintaining sterling environmental standards.” Trump pointed out that, in the course of the development of the domestic shale industry, “we set an economic boom of truly historic proportions, bringing prosperity back to cities and towns all across America.”
The Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), an agency within the Executive Office of the President, issued its report, titled “The Value of U.S. Energy Innovation and Policies Supporting the Shale Revolution” to coincide with Trump’s conference visit. The report outlines the rise in American oil and gas production, and its concomitant effect on cost and price; consumer savings driven by energy price declines made possible by shale exploration; and both total and shale-related changes in emissions in the U.S.
Increasing domestic energy production. The report states that, from 2007 to 2019, innovation in shale production brought an eight-fold increase in extraction productivity for natural gas and a nineteen-fold increase for oil. These productivity gains have reduced costs and spurred production to record-breaking levels. As a result, the U.S. has become the world’s largest producer of both commodities, surpassing Russia in 2011 (for natural gas) and Saudi Arabia and Russia in 2018 (for oil). CEA estimates that greater productivity has reduced the domestic price of natural gas by 63%, as of 2018, and led to a 45% decrease in the wholesale price of electricity. Shale production also has reduced the global price of oil by 10%, as of 2019.
Lowering consumers’ energy costs. The CEA estimates that, by lowering energy prices, the shale revolution saves U.S. consumers $203 billion annually, or $2,500 for a family of four. Nearly 80% of the total savings stem from a substantially lower price for natural gas, of which more than half comes from lower electricity prices. Oil accounts for the other roughly 20% of the savings, most of which are transportation sector savings on fuel costs.
Surpassing the EU in greenhouse gas reduction. According to the report, the shale revolution also has reduced energy-related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and particulate emissions through changes in the composition of electricity generation sources. The CEA estimates that, from 2005 to 2017, the shale revolution lowered energy-related GHG emissions by 527 million metric tons per year, or 9% of GHG emissions in 2005. This contributed to a greater decline in GHG and particulate emissions (relative to the size of the economy) in the U.S. than in the European Union over that period.
“I promised that, as President, I’d unleash American energy like never before, because our natural resources do not belong to government, they belong to the people of this country,” Trump told conference attendees. “With unmatched skill, grit and devotion, you are making America the greatest energy superpower in the history of the world.”
Ghana’s hydropower generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA) has dismissed recent media reports suggesting that the Akosombo hydro-dam is in danger.
According to the VRA, the dam, which was built in 1966, thus, 53 years ago, is safe and can last for 100 years more.
The VRA said this is due to serious maintenance work they undertake regularly.
VRA indicated that a report which was done by dam review board, which included international experts, showed that the dam is safe.
“This dam is safe because daily inspections are done, monthly inspections are also done. Again, there is yearly inspection and one in five years, inspections are also done by dam review board which comes to inspect the facility.”
In a 2015 report, the dam is said to be fit for 100 years.
“The dam will continue working for the next 100 years as long as we continue to do the required maintenance. Maintenance is very important,” Ing. Eugene Asomontsi, Director at the Engineering Services Department of VRA said, after touring the facility with some selected journalists.
The Akosombo Dam generates between 900 MW and 1,020 MW, representing about 80 percent of Ghana’s electricity generation mix.
Ing. Asomontsi explained that between last year and this year alone, VRA has spent about US$10m on maintenance of the facility.
He revealed that in March next year, the team of expert would carry out an assessment of the dam since it is five years ago that a similar exercise was undertaken.
Source:www.energynewsaftrica.com
Ghana’s National Gas Company, Ghana Gas, has hinted that it will start pushing its first gas supply from the Atuabo gas processing plant to the Karpowership by October 31, 2019.
According to Ghana Gas, the laying and setting of pipelines to power the Karpowership had also been completed and currently undergoing tests.
The 470MW Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan which is operated by Karpowership Ghana Company Limited was relocated from Tema to Secondi-Takoradi few weeks ago in order to utilize gas from the Atuabo gas processing plant.
Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah who is the Communications Director for Ghana Gas, explained to journalists the ongoing work to push gas to Karpowership.
“After the purging of the nitrogen gas they try and do the technical works to see whether the pipelines are clean, everything is okay and there are no problems with the pipeline. It’s a technical engineering work as I always say and they have to go back and forth to make sure that everything is on point before they do that.”
“So expectedly, if everything goes on well, by 31st October we’ll push our first gas into the Karpowership. We’re expected to deliver almost about 60 to 90 million cubic feet of gas daily and if everything goes on well we can deliver about 470 megawatts of electricity for the people of Ghana,” he stated.
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Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) is set to introduce wheeling tariffs next year on electricity transported through part of its network, mainly via interconnections with neighbouring countries.
“Ketraco will soon start earning money through wheeling charges, especially on interconnectors, which is set to strengthen our operations,” Mr. Fernandes Barasa, Managing Director of Ketraco told African Energy recentlty.
The new income comes as Ketraco positions itself to take over the system operator role from Kenya Power.
About 175 million citizens in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region are living without electricity.
This represents 50 per cent of the 350 million citizens in the 16 member economic block covering the entire region.
Executive Director of ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), Dr Mahama Kappiah disclosed the just ended ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The development is a serious threat to the achievement of Goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7).
SDG 7 focuses on affordable, reliable and sustainable access to modern energy services.
This includes ensuring universal access to energy services (SDG 7.1), increasing the proportion of renewable energy sources used to supply these services (SDG 7.2) and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements globally (SDG 7.3).
Access to energy is crucial for achieving almost all of the Sustainable Development Goals, from the eradication of poverty through advancements in health, education, water supply and industrialization to combating climate change.
Energy has been described as core to achieving the 2030 Agenda.
Despite this, based on current trends there will still be 2.3 billion people globally who will not have access to clean efficient cooking technologies that protect their environment and health.
This problem must be urgently addressed to meet the targets of SDG 7 and the other SDGs, particularly those linked to mitigating climate change (such as SDG 13).
The proposed global approach is to use public funding to strongly encourage investment in renewable energy and energy efficient technologies.
In particular, local capacity building to support private sector investment in decentralised energy infrastructure is seen as a key approach to enabling equitable access to energy.
The High-Level Political Forum review of SDG 7 has emphasised the importance of regional cooperation to this end the ECOWAS region since 2013 adapted ambitious sustainable energy and energy access objectives that must be attained between 2020 and 2030.
The West Africa Region possesses enormous renewable energy potential and there was the need to utilize the current energy resources it has in a more efficient manner to ensure universal access to all the citizenry by 2030, Mr Kappiah indicated.
Per the region’s own timeline rules as entrenched in the regional policies on renewable energy and energy efficiency, the region has a long way to go in achieving its targets.
In terms of the share of renewable energy in the overall electricity mix, the region was currently at just 26% which included large hydro.
The region stands short of the 35% target by 2020 and 48% by 2030.
The challenges, Mr Kappiah said called for rigorous promotion and deployment of off the grid solutions to ensure that the region attains its target by 2020.
Currently, he said the region has less than 600 operational clean energy mini-grids which falls short of the regional target of 60,000 clean energy mini-grids.
According to him, the region can boast of one gigawatts of renewable energy projects scheduled to be commissioned within the next two years which would push the region towards its global objective.
He indicated that as far as energy efficiency was concern the region was still experiencing electricity losses of up to 40% in some utilities.
He said uptake of clean cooking was still at a slow pace, and similarly energy efficiency in buildings and industry was still at a low level.
Mr Kappiah said the challenges facing the region demonstrate the need for the establishment of a robust partnership to attract major investments.
The ECOWAS sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF) is an annual forum that provides ECOWAS member states with a platform to assess progress made by national and regional levels towards achieving the 2020/2030 sustainable energy targets.
It would be recalled that the ESEF was instituted in 2017 by ECREEE to bolster efforts of member states, along with local, regional and International initiatives in harnessing the region’s vast renewable energy potential by facilitating investment in the regional energy sector.
The Ghana Energy Awards (GEA) wishes to inform all esteemed stakeholders in the country’s energy sector that nominations into the third edition will draw to a close by end of business today, Friday October 25.
The 2019 Awards features 21 categories for the petroleum, power and renewable subsectors including the coveted Energy Personality of the Year, Chief Executive of the Year, Brand of the Year, Energy Institution of the Year, Energy Efficient Organization of the Year, Energy Efficient Product of the Year, Outstanding Staff of the Year, Rising Star awards, Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year, and a host of others.
Fully endorsed by the Ministry of Energy and the World Energy Council, Ghana, the GEA is an industry-owned initiative and recognises the innovation and excellence of players within Ghana’s energy sector and further enhances healthy competition among its players.
This third edition of the Ghana Energy Awards is under the theme: “Energy, The Key to a Sustainable Economy for Industrialization”. It is superintended by an awarding panel composed of experts in the country including Dr Jemima Nunoo (Director, Centre for Management Development, GIMPA), Dr Felix Asante (former Director of ISSER, University of Ghana), Dr Kwame Ampofo (former Chairman of the Energy Commission), Lawyer Kwame Jantuah (Energy Consultant) and Dr Lawrence Tetteh, renowned Evangelist.
Ing. Henry Teinor, the Director of the Awards said the GEA, since its inception in 2017, has continuously strived to maintain its integrity as a true reflection of the industry’s annual performance and therefore called on all stakeholders in the sector to fully participate.
The Ghana Energy Awards is organised by the Energy Media Group in partnership with CH Business Consulting Ghana.
The awards ceremony is slated for November 29 at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra.
Electrical Contractors Association in the West African nation, Ghana, have welcomed the decision by the Akufo-Addo-administration to terminate the concession agreement signed between the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Meralco-led Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited.
In a press statement signed by the President of the Association Nana Addo Tetebo, it said: “We hereby write to show our appreciation to the government of Ghana for its swift, albeit meticulous, approach in terminating the concession agreement between the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Power Distribution Services Limited.
“We, as contractors, are very elated as our issues of non-payment of contracts are expected to be put to rest within the shortest possible time as calm has been restored by the government,” the statement said.
The Association pledged its full support to the government as ECG reassumes full operational and financial control of the electricity distribution business in the Southern Zone of Ghana.
“If ECG does things right in terms of improving efficiency and reducing distribution losses, the electricity business in Ghana needs no concession.
“We hope and pray that, with the current trend of events, the ECG will improve its ways and manage the electricity business in the interest of Ghanaians,” the statement concluded.
Background
The government of Ghana terminated concession agreement Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) signed with Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited on October 18, 2019.
A letter dated 18th October, 2019 signed by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said: “Following consultations with Government, we wish to emphasize that Government remains strongly committed to the Compact and to private sector participation in the Electricity Company of Ghana.”
“Secondly, the facts detailed below clearly justify the discontinuance of the current concession which, it should once again be emphasized, does not in any way diminish the Government of Ghana’s commitment to private sector participation in Ghana’s energy sector. Indeed, Government intends to see this PSP through in a manner that respects due process and fidelity to the relevant transaction documents and underlying Compact,” the letter said.
Cameroon’s national electricity, which supplies has been notoriously unreliable and subject to power cuts, is likely to improve in the coming months.
This is because three power projects being financed by the African Development Bank (AFDB) at the cost of $121.4 million from 2010-2011 are almost complete.
They will provide long-suffering Cameroonians with much more reliable electricity.
“Completion of work on transport lines, line maintenance and especially the replacement of wooden electricity transport poles with concrete poles are all part of the system improvements, whose goal is to increase the quality and reliability of public access to electricity.
“The Lom Panga storage reservoir project is complete, but the dam’s generating plant is still under construction. In the meantime, two other power plants, Kribi and Dibamba, have begun working to strengthen Cameroon’s generating capacity,” a statement copied to energynewsafrica.com indicated.
In November 2011, the African Development Bank awarded $62.9 million for the construction of Lom-Pangar, the hydroelectric generation’s ‘lungs’ in the country’s east region.
The project included the construction of a reservoir (6 billion cubic meters of water retained) for regulating the Sanaga’s flow and optimising generation during low water periods at the Song Loulou plant (335 MW) and the Edea plant (224 MW).
The production from these two plants has grown from 450 MW in 2011 to 729 MW now.
The statement noted that a 30-MW hydroelectric generating plant is also under construction at the base of the dam.
This is expected to be linked to the Bertoua thermal plant by a 105-km 90kV line that would start to work in May 2021 following the installation of an evacuation station and the construction of its four turbines.
The 216-MW capacity Kribi gas-fired generating plant began to work in 2013 after receiving $32.8 million from the African Development Bank in July 2011 for an expansion project. Its production goal is 330 MW.
Currently, the power plant has a 100-km 225 kV transport line connecting it with the Magombe substation in the Edea region in the country’s south region.
The plant operates with natural gas (with light fuel oil as emergency backup) from the Sagana South offshore gas field.
The Kribi gas-fired generating plant and the Dibamba generating plant provide access to electricity for close to half of Cameroon’s population.
The Dibamba heavy fuel oil generating plant was also designed to meet the serious problem of power cuts during the dry season. It was the first of the three plants to receive financial support from the African Development Bank of $25.6 million in April 2010. Built to mitigate the country’s shortage of electricity, high demand quickly outpaced its capacity the day after it began operations.
Located in the outskirts of Douala, Cameroon’s second largest city, Dibamba is an 86-MW thermal generating plant with a 2-km 90 kV transport line linked to the network serving the most remote and densely populated areas in the country’s west region.
With an estimated 23,000 MW hydroelectric production capacity, Cameroon has the second largest hydroelectric potential in Africa and the 18th largest worldwide. The country plans to complete the development of its hydroelectric industries by 2035. Construction of the Nachtigal hydroelectric generating plant began in 2019 and will be complete in about five years, with an estimated generating capacity of 420 MW.
The African Development Bank has awarded a funding package of $154.8 million for the completion of this generating plant. Other development partners, such as the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and Proparco, are also involved.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has cautioned that the ECOWAS region risks losing out on the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 if the issue of low access to electricity is not resolved in the region immediately.
In his view, the ECOWAS region is at a disadvantage when it comes to the use of electricity for socio-economic activities as more than half of the citizens are deprived access to modern energy services.
Dr Bawumia has, therefore, charged leaders of the ECOWAS region to put in place measures and structures that are critical to the development of the countries and the region at large.
“The ECOWAS region, with less than half of its citizens having access to modern energy services, is consistently deprived of the full benefits of electricity for socio-economic development. If the challenges of low electricity access are not curbed as soon as possible, there are strong indications that it will be impossible to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
“We have the responsibility to lift our people out of poverty by providing them with the right infrastructure and systems needed for their development,” Dr Bawumia said in a Facebook post after he addressed the opening ceremony of the 3rd ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF) and Exhibition in Accra, Ghana, where he was the Guest Speaker.
The forum, which was put together by ECOWAS, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), Ghana’s Ministry of Energy and key development partners, offered stakeholders the opportunity to assess their progress six years, after regional policies on renewable energy and energy efficiency were adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.
The ESEF promotes exchange of ideas and cooperation to support the acceleration of sustainable solutions for the region’s energy situation.
The forum provides a platform for improving the policy and regulatory landscape for private sector investment, as well as facilitates networking and partnerships between ECOWAS policymakers, regional and international private sector players and financial institutions.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia(in blue attire),Ghana’s Vice President cutting the tape to open the forum
Lukoil, Russia’s second largest oil company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Equatorial Guinean government) at the Russia–Africa Summit Sochi.
President of Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov initialed the deal on behalf of his company while Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Gabriel signed on behalf of his country.
The memorandum lays the basis for Lukoil’s potential participation in projects to explore and produce hydrocarbons in Equatorial Guinea.
Active in Africa since 1995, Lukoil develops projects mainly in West and Central African countries – Ghana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
General Electric(GE) and Africa’s leading cement producer Dangote Cement Plc have signed an agreement for the deployment of GE’s Asset Performance Management (APM) digital solution to reduce unplanned downtime and enhance performance at its two cement plants in Obajana and Ibese, Nigeria.
The project includes extending the current service agreement for an additional 50,000 operating hours for the seven GE LM6000PC aeroderivative gas turbines installed at the sites. GE’s total plant solutions will improve efficiency, reliability essential to continuous operations and the plants’ business strategy.
“Power supply is both a key input and a major cost (https://bit.ly/32KkCl1) in our manufacturing process,” Ravi Sood, Operations Director, Dangote Cement Plc said in a statement copied to energynewsafrica.com.
“Operational performance is crucial to our cement plant’s overall productivity, directly affecting end products. Being at the front of cement production in Africa, we believe extending our services agreement with GE and the introduction of digital solutions will allow us to improve efficiencies, anticipate further reductions in unplanned downtime and become more self-sufficient in power production in a country which, with approximately 190 million inhabitants, is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world.”
APM leverages cutting-edge technology to monitor the performance of power generation assets to reduce downtime, avoid turbines damage and remotely predict and resolve issues. APM sensors will be installed not only on the seven aeroderivative turbines, but also on their associated generators and gear boxes to predict and accurately diagnose issues with greater accuracy before they occur.
“Energy infrastructure is getting smarter, and digital solutions allow not only the shift from traditional calendar-based repairs to predictive maintenance, but they also increase power asset availability and reliability,” Elisee Sezan, CEO for GE’s Gas Power businesses in sub–Saharan Africa said.
“We are proud to continue our 13-year collaboration with Dangote Cement to help them support Nigeria and other African countries towards achieving self-reliance and self-sufficiency in the world’s most basic commodities.”
The agreement underscores GE’s commitment to work collaboratively with its customers using the APM software to optimize their performance of assets, increase reliability and availability, minimize costs and reduce operational risks. Earlier this year, GE announced the first digital solutions order in sub-Saharan Africa for Azito in Ivory Coast (https://bit.ly/2BHCGAc) improving power plant output, reliability, availability and operational performance.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
