Displaying items by tag: Gas
Wärtsilä signs service contract for power plant at Mangal Industries cement plant in Nigeria
08 May 2024Nigeria: Finland-based Wärtsilä has signed a 10-year operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement for a captive power plant that provides the energy for Mangal Industries’ cement plant located in Kogi State. The cement plant has limited access to the local electricity grid and its power plant operates with five Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines delivering an output of 50MW. The O&M agreement is designed to ensure that the facility can reliably maintain its cement production target of 3Mt/yr.
The 10-year agreement starts immediately as the unit commences operations in the second quarter of 2024. It will run on liquid fuel initially but then switch to gas operation when a natural gas pipeline is commissioned. The power plant’s dual-fuel engines can be operated both on liquid fuel and natural gas. They could also be potentially converted to operate with low- or zero-carbon fuels in the future subject to availability.
Patrick Borstner, Director, Operations Africa at Wärtsilä Energy said, “Wärtsilä now has more than 400MW of installed capacity for the cement industry in Nigeria, and we are operating three captive power plants in three different states. This successful track record clearly indicates our capabilities and highlights the added value we can deliver to our customers through our experience and expertise in supporting their operations.”
Mangal Industries signed a contract with China-based Sinoma International Engineering in 2021 for the construction of a 3Mt/yr new integrated cement plant. Construction at the site commenced in mid-2022.
Qizilqumsement allegedly paid above market price to gas supplier with links to Uzbek first family
26 April 2024Uzbekistan: Investigative reporting by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has found evidence of a company linked to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's son-in-law carrying out ‘secret state contracts.’ These included a US$36m ‘overpriced’ natural gas supply contract for Qizilqumsement. The company, Ultimo Group, is reportedly without website or public profile and co-owned by a retiree with no business background. RFE/RL described its network of associated international companies as ‘Byzantine.’
Furno Materials secures US$6.5m in seed funding
20 March 2024US: Furno Materials completed an oversubscribed US$6.5m seed funding round on 13 March 2023. Subsequently, the start-up unveiled plans for its Furno Brick carbon-neutral modular cement plant, which can use a variety of gaseous fuels. The plant scales on demand, drastically reducing the barrier to entry for local or small-scale cement production.
Furno CEO Gurinder Nagra said “At Furno, we have the ability to produce ordinary Portland cement now, to adapt to a range of gas-based fuels and materials innovations as they emerge and to meet demand where it exists, while still abiding by a shifting regulatory landscape. Our mission is to go the distance by innovating at the heart of cement production and operating as a complement to other technological developments in the cement space. Our cement far exceeds ASTM International standards, a bare-minimum quality threshold. While most companies tout meeting these standards and stop there, we have continued to refine our process and are on target to surpass the even higher commercial requirements set by significantly-sized customers eager for our solution.”
Nigerian government considering allowing imports of cement
21 February 2024Nigeria: The Federal Government has warned cement producers that it is considering allowing cement imports into the country in response to high local prices. Arc Ahmed Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, made the comment at an emergency meeting held with cement and building materials manufacturers in Abuja following a doubling of the price of bags of cement, according to the Vanguard newspaper. Manufacturers have blamed the price rises on the increasing cost of gas, the cost of mining equipment, negative currency exchange rate effects and the poor state of the country’s roads. However, Dangiwa noted that many of the raw materials they use - including limestone, clay, silica sand and gypsum - are sourced locally.
The government is preparing to set up a committee - comprising representatives of each cement company, the Cement Manufactures of Nigeria Association and the relevant ministries, to find ways of tackling the high price of cement.
GAS Arabian Services to supply gas equipment to Yamama Cement
12 February 2024Saudi Arabia: GAS Arabian Services Company has won a contract for the procurement of metering skids, pressure reduction stations and gas pipelines for Yamama Cement, Mist News has reported. Yamama Cement is in the process of expanding its Northern Halal cement plant to 32,500t/day in capacity.
Iranian cement plants use mazut as fuel amid gas shortage
15 January 2024Iran: 70% of cement plants by capacity were reportedly using the low-quality heavy fuel oil mazut as cement fuel on 13 January 2024. Iranian Labour News Agency has reported that plants transitioned to the fuel from natural gas amid an on-going gas shortage. This has led to a rise in costs and increased pollution from cement plants.
Iran’s Cement Industry Employers’ Association said that the industry’s supply of natural gas has dropped to 7Mm3/yr, from 27M3/yr normally.
Iraq: Al-Riyadh Investment Companies Group subsidiary Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries plans to expand its Al Douh cement plant’s capacity by 58% to 3Mt/yr. The expansion is part of an upgrade involving the installation of a new kiln, a gas-fired captive power plant and a new waste heat recovery (WHR) plant. The WHR plant will provide 30% of the plant’s energy. The US-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) has loaned Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries US$130m on a long-term basis for the project.
The IFC says that it expects the Al Douh cement plant expansion to help boost economic diversification, spur sustainable growth in Iraq and generate 2700 new jobs in Muthanna Governorate.
New Gas pipeline built at Najaf cement plant in Iraq
01 January 2024Iraq: A 1200m dry gas pipeline feeding the Najaf cement plant has been commissioned. The project was the first external assignment carried out by the Oil Pipelines Company, according to the National Iraqi News Agency. The plant is operated by the Southern Cement Company.
Cemros warns of higher input costs in 2024
28 December 2023Russia: Mikhail Polyanichko, the finance director of Cemros, has warned that growing gas prices, logistic costs and the interest rate set by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will “significantly” increase input costs for cement producers in 2024. Tariffs on gas and railway transport both rose by around 10% in December 2023, with a further gas rate rise scheduled for July 2024. Polyanichko noted that the price of gas is particularly sensitive for cement plants given that it represents, on average, about 30% of the energy mix. He described the impending situation as a “stress scenario” and forecast that investment projects were likely to be reduced.
UltraTech Cement to use 60% renewable energy by 2026 financial year
13 December 2023India: UltraTech Cement plans to more than double the share of renewable electricity in its energy mix to 60% by the 2026 financial year, which will end on 31 March 2026, from 22% at present. Asian News International has reported that the group plans to reach 85% renewable energy use by 2030. It presently has 691MW-worth of installed renewable power capacity, comprised of 429MW of contracted renewable power plants and 262MW of waste heat recovery (WHR) plants. Other decarbonisation technologies in UltraTech Cement’s operations besides renewable power include its use of compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas as vehicle fuel.