HOW SONGAS IS WORKING TO BRING MORE CLEAN, RELIABLE ENERGY TO A NATION WHERE IT IS SORELY NEEDED Project Sponsor
ELECTRIFYING
TANZANIA
Nigel Whittaker, Managing Director of Songas, explains how the company is supplying much-needed energy to Tanzania
“
It’s very important for everybody to have access to reliable electricity, and I think that Africa generally suffers in comparison with the rest of the world.” Nigel Whittaker, Managing Director of Songas, holds these beliefs that mirror those of his company and its parent company, Globeleq. Songas is a major player in the electricity sector for Tanzania, and has been since it became operational in 2004. The company uses natural gas from Songo Songo Island and processes it on location, before transporting it along a 225km pipeline to the Ubungo Power Plant in Dar es Salaam, owned and operated by Songas. The gas is then converted into electricity which is sold cheaply to TANESCO to sell on to its customers. In a nation which relies heavily on
4
hydroelectric power via precious water supplies which are subject to droughts, and expensive fuel oil must be imported, Songas’s presence is a necessity. “Only around 30% of people in Tanzania have access to electricity, but the government has a plan to increase the industrialisation of the country,” says Whittaker. “In order for that to happen, reliable electricity needs to be available so that industry can thrive. “Currently there’s about 1,100MW of electricity available in Tanzania, and the government wants to increase that to 5,000MW, to develop industrialisation and improve access to electricity. We support that. We want to be a part
w w w. s o n g a s . c o m
5
Industrial gas turbine SGT-800 Power generation: 47.5-54 MW(e) 47.5 MW Version Gross efficiency: 37.7% Heat rate: 9,547 kJ/kWh (9,084 btu/kWh) Turbine speed: 6,608 rpm Pressure ratio: 20.1:1 Exhaust mass flow: 132.8 kg/s (292.8 lb/s) Exhaust temperature: 541°C (1,007°F)
50.5 MW Version Gross efficiency: 38.3% Heat rate: 9,389 kJ/kWh (8,899 btu/kWh) Turbine speed: 6,608 rpm Pressure ratio: 21.0:1 Exhaust mass flow: 134.2 kg/s (295.8 lb/s) Exhaust temperature: 553°C (1,027°F)
54.0 MW Version Gross efficiency: 39.1% Heat rate: 9,206 kJ/kWh (8,725 btu/kWh) Turbine speed: 6,608 rpm Pressure ratio: 21.4:1 Exhaust mass flow: 135.5 kg/s (298.7 lb/s) Exhaust temperature: 563°C (1,045°F)
siemens.com/gasturbines
Siemens’ SGT-800, a proven distributed generation turbine for Africa! Whatever the power generation requirements may be, Siemens, a global engineering powerhouse has the right combination of technology, solutions and skills to meet the requirements, and yes, often exceed. Siemens gas turbines are precisely designed to master the dynamic African energy market environment. Low lifecycle costs and an excellent return on investment right from the start are just two of the benefits that Siemens gas turbine portfolio offers. Mark Van Antwerp, Vice President of Power & Gas Sales for Southern and Eastern Africa at Siemens says: “Our gas turbines fulfil the high requirements of a wide spectrum of applications in terms of efficiency, reliability, flexibility and environmental compatibility. There has been a major shift in the market from centralised power generation to distributed generation. At Siemens we believe that this is a trend much to the benefit of Africa as the electrification levels are still low. One of our innovative products is the SGT-800. This machine is getting a lot of attention in the continent primarily because it offers broad flexibility in fuels, operating conditions, maintenance concepts, package solutions, and ratings.” The excellent efficiency and steam-raising capability make it outstanding in cogeneration and combined cycle installations. The SGT-800-based power plant, designed for flexible operation, is perfectly suited as grid support. The SGT-800 combines a simple, robust design, for high reliability and easy maintenance, with high efficiency and low emissions. With more than 300 units sold and over 4 million equivalent operating hours, it is an excellent choice for the African markets. Matthieu Cecillon, Vice President of Application Engineering for Sub-Saharan
Africa at Siemens says: “The Siemens SGT-800 gas turbine is available in three versions with power output of 47.5, 50.5 and 54.0 MW respectively. The gas turbine combines a robust, reliable design with high efficiency and low emissions. This makes it an ideal choice for municipal and industrial power generation, refineries, and the oil and gas industry. Its high exhaust energy content makes the Siemens SGT800 particularly well suited for combined heat and power and combined-cycle applications. Reliability, environmental compatibility, and low lifecycle costs are the key features of the Siemens SGT-800: With up to 60,000 operating hours (EOH) between major overhauls, low maintenance costs, and an excellent electrical efficiency, the Siemens machine achieves the lowest lifecycle costs and the best combinedcycle efficiency within its class.” The Siemens SGT-800 is a single-shaft machine with 15 compressor stages. The first three stages have variable guide vanes. To minimize leakage over the blade tips, abradable seals are applied to stages four to fifteen. The three-stage turbine is built as one module and is bolted to the compressor shaft to provide for easy maintenance. The turbine stator flanges are air-cooled to reduce running clearances and improve efficiency. The overall design of the Siemens SGT-800 gas turbine ensures easy service access to the combustor and the burners. The cold end of the gas turbine is connected to the generator via a reduction gear unit; this reduces the turbine speed from 6,600 rpm down to 1,500/1,800 rpm. The Siemens SGT-800 gas turbines are equipped with Dry Low Emissions (DLE) combustion system to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The combustion system is designed to operate on both gas and liquid fuels and it’s capable of on-line switchover between fuels.
8
of that programme, because we’re we’re constantly generating,” part of the solution in Tanzania.” explains Whittaker. “We are Whittaker has 35 years of running 24/7, and our electricity experience in energy, including is the cheapest thermal generator 25 in power generation. Having in East Africa; we sell to TANESCO worked for big industry names like at about six cents a kilowatt.” Powergen, E.ON, and Sumitomo, This not only benefits citizens Whittaker took on his current role wanting electricity from a clean, with Songas in 2015, and reliable, cost-effective has been applying source, but ensures his expertise to the that Songas remains well-established a top choice as a company ever supplier. Globeleq, since this time. one of Songas’ When Songas’ shareholders, is business began, dedicated to power Number of it was the only development employees at Songas gas fired generator in Africa in the country and it and works supplied between 30-50% hard to supply of the electricity in Tanzania. While electricity on the continent, it is more like 25%, the company a known driver for social and remains an extremely important economic development. part of the local electricity Using Tanzanian gas, Songas generation sector. This is due in can continue to provide electricity part to its very high availability more economically than the fuel (98%) and a load factor of 92%. oil generators which have to import “Songas is very important to the gas into the country; this has Tanzania because it’s reliable and saved Tanzania billions of US dollars
72
w w w. s o n g a s . c o m
9
since its operations began in 2004. Songas uses reliable infrastructure which means that there is no need to constantly update its technology. “The company has not changed a lot since we went operational in 2004,” says Whittaker. “Prior to that there was a lot of time and effort involved in developing the gas process and the building of the pipeline, upgrading the old plant by converting it to gas, and adding new units. Since then the plant has been running in a stable operation.” While stability is something to aspire to, it can never be quite enough when a business can do so much more and with its excellent service in a nation with low rates of electricity consumption. So how can Songas keep doing what it’s doing, but do more of it? The challenges for Songas are external, and things which will take time to change. Both TANESCO and the Tanzanian government are dealing with struggles which affect Songas, but Whittaker is hopeful. “The government is hoping to organise a financial package with the World Bank which will alleviate TANESCO’s financial issues, making it financially viable going forward,” he says. “We’re anxious to see the outcome because it’s important not just for companies like Songas, but the whole financial electricity sector generally.” Songas is developing a plan to upgrade two of
10
“Songas is a thriving business, it runs very well, the plant performance is very good, and the electricity price is low. We think we’ve been a fantastic asset for Tanzania” Nigel Whittaker, Managing Director
w w w. s o n g a s . c o m
11
12
its six units which will enable it to produce more electricity. It’s simpler for the company to upgrade existing units, as the site contain all of the necessary infrastructure already, than to build entirely new facilities, and generation capacity could increase from 180MW to 240MW if the government grants approval. “Songas is a thriving business, it runs very well, the plant performance is very good, and the electricity price is low. We think we’ve been a fantastic asset for Tanzania. Pan African Energy Tanzania (PAET) recently put some calculations in the newspaper saying that Songo Songo Island gas has saved the Tanzanian government $6.2bn since operations began – money that would otherwise have been spent on producing the same amount of energy with imported fuels. So Songas has been very successful, not just for the shareholders but for Tanzania as a whole.” 54% of Songas’ shares are held by Globeleq and 46% are held by the Government of Tanzania through holdings by
TANESCO, TDC and TDFL. Songas sees a future in which its generating capacity is expanded by about 30%, and its parent company, Globeleq, is extremely interested in pursuing other power development projects as soon as it gets the go-ahead. The gas at Songo Songo Island is sufficient to meet the needs of Songas’s future growth, and the infrastructure is not fully utilised. So while Songas does have to wait for precisely the right environment and the necessary approval, the future certainly looks bright. “There are enough resources on Songo Songo Island for us to introduce, improve, and increase electricity generation,” Whittaker concludes. “Tanzania will be a very interesting market for us once we can see there’s some stability returned to the electricity sector here.”
w w w. s o n g a s . c o m
13
E
T DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA
+225 22 245 2160 SONGAS.INFO@SONGAS.COM WWW.SONGAS.COM