Energy and marine equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä will supply fuel-flexible dual-fuel engines to extend, improve and modernise power generation for a captive power plant at Nigeria’s oldest and largest food and agroprocessing company Flour Mills Nigeria.

Flour Mills Nigeria’s Lagos-based power plant is needed to ensure sufficient capacity and a reliable around-the-clock electricity supply to enable the company to manufacture its food products and meet its commitment to customers.

The engines to be supplied by Wärtsilä can switch seamlessly from natural gas to liquid fuel, while running at full load. The system is able to facilitate continuous supply of electricity to critical loads in the event of uncertainties in the quality and quantity of the gas supply.

In addition to maximising the availability and reliability of electricity supply, this inherent capability provides a valuable hedge against fuel price increases and lends itself to accommodating future fuel infrastructure developments, Wärtsilä says.

The first order comprises a 9-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engine generator set that 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 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 Wärtsilä engine generator sets will be delivered during this year and are expected to become fully operational by early 2022.

“Repeat orders from a customer, such as these, signify their satisfaction with our solution, as well as cements the relationship between our companies.

"Operational flexibility and efficiency, features of the Wärtsilä engines, are becoming key issues in energy production and are especially relevant for production facilities with a critical need for a reliable electricity supply,” says Wärtsilä Africa West energy business director Marc Thiriet.

Wärtsilä has 4 792 MW of capacity installed in West Africa, of which 667 MW is in Nigeria. Wärtsilä has operated in the country since 2010 and has about 90 employees locally.