INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS
FROM AROUND THE CONTINENT
NIGERIA Modernising Flour Mills’ power generation facilities Technology group Wärtsilä will supply fuelflexible dual-fuel engines to extend, improve and modernise power generation for a captive power plant at Nigeria’s oldest and largest food and agro-allied company, Flour Mills Nigeria. The company’s Lagos-based power plant is needed to ensure sufficient capacity and a reliable electricity supply around the clock to meet its food production requirements, and commitments to its customers. Wärtsilä has received two orders. The first order comprises a nine-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engine generator set and is an extension to the existing generating capacity provided by a similar Wärtsilä engine generator set that has been successfully operating since 2017. The second order comprises a 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF engine generator set and is intended to replace
SENEGAL
ETHIOPIA Boost to youth employment and crosscountry electricity trade The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group and the Ethiopian government have signed two separate grant agreements: • US$47 million (R697 million) towards an industrial parks and youth project that will see the development of irrigation and water management infrastructure around the Integrated Agro-Industrial Parks. This will offer opportunities for graduate ‘agri-preneurs’ to establish agro-related, commercially viable businesses. • $71 million (R1.05 billion) towards the Ethiopia-Djibouti Second Power Interconnection Project, which aims to boost electricity trade between Ethiopia and neighbouring Djibouti. With the Agro-Industrial Parks, the Arab Bank for Economic Development is also providing financing of about $50 million (R741 million), in addition to a $5.2 million (R81.5 million) contribution from the Ethiopian government itself.
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an existing, inefficient mono-fuel generating asset in the plant with efficient dual-fuel generating capacity as part of Flour Mills Nigeria’s captive power plant modernisation plans. The Nigerian government’s Vision 30:30:30 document for the power sector aims to achieve a capacity of 30 000 MW of electricity by the year 2030, with at least 30% being supplied from renewable energy sources. The selection of fast-starting and -stopping Wärtsilä engines means that, should the customer have access to solar or wind power in the future, these engine generator sets can provide smart backup generation to balance the fluctuating supply from renewables. Wärtsilä holds a leading position in supplying flexible power generation to West Africa, with 4 792 MW of capacity installed, of which 667 MW is in Nigeria. Wärtsilä has operated in the country since 2010 and has around 90 employees locally.
The programme entails the development of 12 607 ha of irrigated land, while 3 000 youths will receive agronomic and business development training. Irrigation infrastructure will: strengthen water users’ associations; protect the watershed areas around the irrigation schemes; go towards training farmers and youth agri-preneurs on soil and water conservation practices, agricultural production, value addition and marketing; and support established youth SMEs to access credit. The Ethiopia-Djibouti Second Power Interconnection Project involves the construction of about 300 km of interconnector lines, as well as 170 km of transmission lines to reinforce the network within Ethiopia, and the new construction and expansion of substations in the two countries. In Djibouti, expected benefits include a 65% increase in customer connections and a sharp reduction in the use of thermal generation plants from 100% to around 16%. In Ethiopia, the project should lead to higher incomes.
Replacing 316 km of water distribution pipeline The Société Nationale des Eaux du Sénégal (Sones) is working with Sen’Eau, the company that operates and distributes drinking water in urban and peri-urban areas, to replace 316 km of pipes in the drinking water distribution network in the city of Dakar. This will save approximately 45 000 m3 of water and improve the distribution of drinking water from various plants. Work will begin once negotiations with the concessionaires are finished and the international call for tenders has been completed.
