Displaying items by tag: Gas

Egypt: The government has reduced the price of natural gas for cement producers to US$5 per one million British thermal units (BTU). Previously the price was US$8MBtu, according to Mubasher. The government has reduced the price at a similar rate for other industrial users including iron, steel, aluminium, cooper, ceramic, and porcelain plants. It will now review the price of gas every six months.

US: Keystone Cement plans to convert its Bath cement plant in Pennsylvania to gas firing from coal. The project will cost US$2.2m, with a US$0.32m grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, according to the Express-Times newspaper. Gas supplier UGI Utilities will work with Keystone to install a new underground gas line from an existing substation to a new substation at the plant. The project is scheduled for competition by mid-2020.

Sweden: Cementa has started using a gas-powered truck for bulk cement deliveries. The Volvo FH460 LNG will use the Skövde cement plant as its main base and delvier cement to customers in the west of the country. Typically gas-powered vehicles in Sweden use a mixture of 50% biogas and 50% natural gas, although this may change is greater amounts of biogas become available. The truck is owned and operated by Tommy Bremans Åkeri in Skövde, a supplier to XR Logistik.

Pakistan: The gas supply to Lucky Cement’s Pezu plant has been disrupted by an investigation by Suit Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGP) into unaccounted-for gas. An initial short shutdown to the supply has been extended to over a month, according to the news International newspaper. The gas supplier is investigating widespread theft of its gas via illegal connections.

Nigeria: BUA Group has ordered a 48MW power plant from Finland’s Wärtsilä for a new production line at its Sokoto cement plant. The power plant will operate without connection to an electricity grid and it will operate on five Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines, running primarily on liquified natural gas (LNG) but with the capability to switch to low pour fuel oil (LPFO) if necessary. The site’s two existing power plants operate on heavy fuel oil (HFO).

The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for delivery at the end of 2019, and the new plant is expected to become operational in mid-2020. No price for the order has been disclosed.

Moldova: The Rybnitsky Cement plant has significantly cut its production costs due to a cheap gas deal. According to Radio Chișinău and the Infotag News Agency, the cement producer is paying four times less for its gas than its local competitor, the LafargeHolcim-owned Rezinsky Cement plant. In 2018 the Moldovan government held off renewing a supply contract with Russia’s Gazprom to see if cheaper options were available elsewhere.

Pakistan: The Peshawar High Court has temporarily ordered Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGP) not to charge Lucky Cement a higher price for gas. The cement producer took legal action against the supplier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the Ministry of Energy following a price increase of 142% in October 2018, according to the Dawn newspaper. The court has asked OGRA to respond to questions about the price rise. Lawyers on behalf of the Lucky Cement argue that the increase in the cost of gas was taken without following the normal legal requirements.

Uzbekistan: Cement production has fallen by 4.7% year-on-year to 5.6Mt in the first nine months of 2018 from 5.9Mt in the same period in 2017. The decline has been blamed on rising gas and electricity prices, according to the Trend News Agency. Energy prices have risen by at least 60% so far in 2018. 4.5Mt of production, or over 80%, was sold through the Uzbek Commodity Exchange.

Russia: Eurocement is installing a 24MW captive natural gas power plant at its Kavkazcement plant in Chelyabinsk. The equipment was purchased from Finland’s Wärtsilä for the Euro15.5m project. Construction of the buildings to house the power plant is expected to be completed in November 2018.

The project is a part of an energy efficiency program that Mikhail Skorokhod, the president of Eurocement, signed with Rashid Temrezov, the head of the Karachay-Cherkess Federal Region, as part of the Russian Investment Forum, in 2018.

At present Eurocement has a power generation capacity of 150MW. It has built captive power plants at its Mordovcement, Sengileevskiy, Peterburgcement and Nevyansk cement plants. Upon the completion of the latest program the company is targeting a power capacty of over 400MW.

Tanzania: Energy minister Medard Kalemani has inaugurated a new natural gas connection project to Dangote Cement’s plant at Mtwara. The project is being implemented to two phases with a new power plant planned that will generate up to 45MW, according to the Tanzanian Guardian newspaper. The upgrade will cost around US$875,000. Phase two of the project will see the construction of a 2.7km pipeline to the cement plant as well as supporting infrastructure. This is expected to be completed by the end of October 2018. Using natural gas is expected to significantly reduce the running costs of making the cement, which has been using diesel generators.