Wärtsilä, a leading supplier of flexible power plants for the decentralized power generation market, has been awarded an operations and maintenance (O&M) contract for 10 years by Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc, a major cement manufacturer, to run its cement plant power station in Nigeria. By outsourcing the operations and maintenance to Wärtsilä, the customer can focus on its core business.
The O&M contract, signed in September, calls for Wärtsilä to undertake all aspects of operating and maintaining the on-site power plant, including labour, spare parts, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, administration, human resource services and training, technical support, logistics management and security.
The power plant, located close to the city of Ewekoro, 65 kilometres north of Lagos,
is currently under construction and is scheduled to be in full commercial operation in January 2011. The 100 MW plant will supply electricity to a new cement works being built. Lafarge Cement WAPCO will double its capacity from two million tonnes to over four million tonnes of cement produced by 2011. The expansion project will further assist the company to meet the local demand of cement in Nigeria.
In announcing this latest order, Denis Pierchon, Regional Sales Manager for Africa, Wärtsilä Services, commented: “Wärtsilä has worked closely with the Lafarge group for several years, and has supplied the company with other power plants in Nigeria and Bangladesh. Lafarge trusts our ability and expertise in not only supplying, but also in operating power plants and optimizing their efficiency. The customer benefits by having fixed budgeted costs for the running of the power plant throughout the contractual period.”
“The fuel flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines is an important element in providing heavy industrial processes with a low cost and reliable power supply,” Mr Pierchon continues.
The power plant is a turnkey project by Wärtsilä, and will be powered by six Wärtsilä 18V50DF engines that can operate on either heavy fuel oil, light fuel oil, or gas. When operational, the Ewekoro power plant will, together with other plants already delivered by Wärtsilä, bring the total combined generating capacity supplied by Wärtsilä to Nigeria to approximately 400 MWe. Wärtsilä has O&M contracts for some 150 MW of this generating capacity.
For further information, please contact:
Denis Pierchon
Regional Sales Manager, Africa,
Wärtsilä Services
Direct tel: + 33 (0)4 91 03 99 32
Mobile: + 33 (0)6 32 64 03 43
e-mail: denis.pierchon@wartsila.com
Maria Nystrand
Publicity Manager,
Wärtsilä Power Plants
Direct tel: +358 10 709 1456
e-mail: maria.nystrand@wartsila.com
Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.
In 2008, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 4.6 billion with 19,000 employees. The company has operations in 160 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.
Lafarge Cement WAPCO in brief
Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc is a leading manufacturer and marketer of cement in Nigeria and a subsidiary of Lafarge, the world leader in building materials.
With its state-of-the-art plant in Ewekoro, Lafarge WAPCO is the manufacturer of Elephant Cement, a formidable brand that has consistently won the NIS Certificate for product quality by the Nigerian Standard Organisation for over two decades.
The Company recently got the MANCAP Certificate for Portland Limestone Cement (Elephant Brand) CEMII 32.5 BL making it the first cement manufacturer to own the certificate in Nigeria.
