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Monday 30 September 2019
BUSINESS DAY
REAL SECTOR WATCH
Greenville banks on FG support to supply gas, power to industries, Nigerians ...Minister assures support to help Nigerians get power ODINAKA ANUDU
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reenville Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Limited is banking on the support of the Federal Government to supply gas to industries and provide LNG to Kaduna Power Plant. Speaking during the visit of Jedy Agba, minister of state for power, at Greenville’s $500 million facility at Rumuji, Rivers State, weekend, Eddy Van Den Broeke, chairman of Greenville, said with Federal Government support, the company can supply gas to companies in Kano,Kaduna, Sokoto and other parts of the country. “Everybody complains that there is no electricity. But this facility can be replicated three times in different places,” he said. He said the company was absolutely ready to supply LNG to Kaduna Power Plant, assuring that Train 1 would be available in November while Train 2 would be ready by end of January 2020. Van Den Broeke, who has been in Nigeria for 25 years, said Greenville could help develop several industries across the country, especially those in the north, through its gas and power. Greenville has invested hugely in its quest to pro-
Greenville LNG customer site at Dufil Prima Foods, Port Harcourt
vide gas-to-power solution to Nigerians. But the company needs patronage and is willing to supply LNG to Kaduna Power Plant. It also provides gas to firms to enable them stay afloat and reduce ballooning energy costs. “Our relationship with the community where we operate is good,” the chairman said, when asked about Greenville’s relationship with the Rumuji community and its environs. “Once we are in full speed, we will talk details with the community,” he assured. Greenville’s $500 million plant at Rumuji, Rivers State, has the capacity to produce 2,250 tons every day and
750 million tons annually. The oil & gas firm has an arrangement with the Federal Government since 2014 to supply LNG to Kaduna Power Plant. While speaking, Jedy Agba, minister of state for power, said he was satisfied with what he saw at Greenville facility. He said what he saw was an impressive effort by a company to power Nigerians. “I am sure the Federal Government will be interested,” he assured. He said the plant was capable of supplying the needs of Kaduna Power Plant, stressing that it would
be a good business once Kaduna Power Plant deal with Greenville was done. “The plan of the Federal Government is to make power available for every Nigerian,” he said. “If it is within my power, I will facilitate gas to Kaduna Power Plant,” he said. He assured investors that Greenville is a viable facility and has the capacity to supply the needs of Nigerians. Ritu Sahajwalla, managing director, Greenville, said the company was humbled that the minister had chosen to visit the facility. “We are humbled that someone is looking to see how this facility can supply
gas to industries. We are glad that the minister has seen this,” she said. She pointed out that the company already had customers it supplied gas directly to, but stressed that the company was looking forward to Kaduna Power Plant. So far, Greenville has taken LNG to manufacturers to cut their production costs and improve efficiency. A number of Industries in Sagamu, Lagos and the northern Nigeria are already connected to Greenville’s environmentallyfriendly, clean and clear energy, with Dufil Prima Foods, makers of Indomie noodles, being the latest beneficiary. “What we need in Nigeria is more industrialisation, more jobs and more s k i l l s, a n d n ow p ow e r will not be an issue when it comes to starting any company,” Sahajwalla said at the commissioning of Greenville customer location at Dufil Prima Foods in Port Harcourt. “We have 2,250 tons of LNG and we will expand more to supply LNG to 250 megawatts (MW)-capacity Kaduna Power Plant in the north,” she further said. “We have almost concluded. Kick-off depends on the completion of the power plant. We have everything
needed to start. Nigeria can have 250MW in six months,” she explained. Nigerian manufacturers spend 40 percent of their expenditure on alternative energy sources. A number of them use Low-Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO), which is much expensive and environmentally-unfriendly. According to a survey conducted by the Manufactiurers Association of Nigeria (MAN), expenditure on alternative energy sources totalled N93.1 billion in 2018, eating deep into the margins of the producers. Sahajwalla had said that LNG was cost-effective and environmentally-friendly, stressing that it was the catalyst to Nigeria’s industrialisation and growth. “One truck can produce five megawatts. That is why I said from now Nigeria can have more pipelines and more stable power plants. This project comes very handy in terms of new industries and the strength of industries. From now to the next four or five years, industries are developing and the pipeline will be coming,” she said. Industries are seeking ways of cutting production costs as they battle with multiple taxation, low consumer purchasing power and poor access to funding.
Unicane Industries to complete second phase of plant expansion by Q2 2020 HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
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igeria will finally attain sufficiency in ethanol production as Unicane Industries Limited, Lokoja, announces the completion of plant expansion by the second quarter of next year. Upon completion, Unicane, a subsidiary of the country’s pioneer and leading ethanol producer, Unikem Industries Limited, will produce 400,000 litres of Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) per day. According to a statement by an executive director of Unicane Industries Limited, Uzor Kalu, the industrial group, whose presence in Nigeria exceeds nine decades, has continuously led and defined the ethanol industry,
by investing tens of billions of naira in plant and machinery, built capacity and evolved from import reprocessing to upstream integration of local sourcing of raw materials of cas-
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sava, cashew apples and sugar cane molasses. The executive director said that in 2013, Unicane acquired an expanse of land in Jamata Village, an uncharted area of Lokoja
Local Government of Kogi State, to set up a state-ofthe-art local cassava fermentation-to-distillation plant with 400,000 litres per day capacity of ENA from 100 per cent local raw
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materials. Kalu stated that this huge industrial development, which commenced its first phase of production in 2018, has quickly revolutionised cassava farming in Kogi State and its environs, turning cassava from a mere subsistence crop to a lucrative cash crop providing tremendous economic power to the farmers, a feat which resonates highly with the Federal Government’s policy drive to deepen the agricultural sector for improved national economic gains. He listed other great benefits of the development to include import substitution, foreign exchange savings, thousands of direct and support employment opportunities @Businessdayng
and government revenue generation. He stated that when Unicane’s ENA output of 400,000 litres per day are added in the Q2 of 2020, the group will achieve a combined daily ENA output of 700,000 litres, which will translate into an annual capacity of 210 million litres in bulk and packaged drums with a product quality that compares with the highest international standards. Combined with the production of other locally based manufacturers, Kalu stated that total national ENA capacity will far exceed national consumption, eliminating the need for ethanol imports in Nigeria, and indeed feed exports to other African countries.w