Electricity: Lafarge to Add 30MW to Grid in 2018

• Electricity: Lafarge to Add 30MW to Grid in 2018

Lafarge Africa Plc says it has concluded plans to inject about 30 mega watts of electricity into the national grid by 2018.

According to the Manager of Ewekoro plant, the firm’s flagship manufacturing base, Mr. Segun Soyoye, Lafarge currently produces 90 mega watts of electricity to power its operations with a target to increase the capacity to 220 mega watts.

He said on Friday that the process of injecting power into the national grid was at the concluding stage.

He added that the company had also started investing in alternative energy sources to power its kilns.

The Country Chief Executive Officer, Lafarge, Mr. Michel Puchercos, had recently said that the company was ready to support the country in solving her energy problem.

He said the effects of the slowdown in the economy prompted the company to seek an alternative means to generate energy for its Ewekoro and other plants.

Puchercos said, “We realised last year that dollars was scarce and energy was scarce in Nigeria. So, the company reacted very strongly, how can we do both? We wanted to do both – keeping on producing and saving energy and dollars. This is how the idea of using biomass came.

“Ogun State, being an agriculture hub as well, made it possible for us to produce 50 per cent power from biomass in 2016, which we can grow up to 70 or 80 per cent. We aim to roll out the scheme in other plants; in Cross River State, and in Ashaka, Gombe State.”

According to the CEO, the production of biomass fuel from palm kernels is not restricted to recycling palm kernels.

“Burning and recycling wastes like silica and aluminium which are dangerous to man can generate electricity and improve the standard of living. If Nigeria is ready, we are ready to support,” he said.