Port Harcourt, Nigeria | – Nigeria’s crude oil refining capacity is set to rise in the coming days, as General Electric, GE, disclosed that it has completed the supply and installation of three 25-megawatt, MW, aero-derivative mobile gas turbines, with a combined capacity of 75MW, to the Port Harcourt refinery.
The turbines, a trailer-mounted, TM2500+ power plants, were supplied through Genesis Electricity Limited with the aim of ensuring uninterrupted power supply at the refinery.
According to a statement by GE, the installation of the mobile gas turbines will ensure that the Port Harcourt refinery, Nigeria’s largest crude oil refinery, has the power it needs to overcome grid outages and return to full refining capacity.
“Before now, outages have reduced the refinery’s output to 30 per cent of its total maximum capacity of 210,000 barrels per day. To help address these issues, GE signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in November 2013 for the installation of GE’s TM2500+ units at the refinery” the company said.
GE further said the TM2500+ gas turbines will provide both the base load and backup power to support refinery operations, adding that the agreement also includes the future modernisation of Nigeria’s other two refineries.
Commenting on the development, President and Chief Executive Officer, GE Nigeria, Dr Lazarus Angbazo, said the company is in the process of training Nigerian engineers to operate and manage the refinery’s TM2500+ units.
According to him, GE also has an in-country service and maintenance workshop to service the units, adding that apart from reflecting GE’s long term commitment to Nigeria, these efforts are in line with local content requirements in Nigeria.
