NIGERIA – Dangote Cement plc has signed an agreement with General Electric to digitize operations at the company’s two cement plants in Obajana and Ibese, Nigeria.
A move believed to help one of Africa’s largest cement company improve efficiency, reliability essential to continuous operations and the plants’ business strategy.
The agreement signed in October this year will allow GE to Modernize Seven GE LM6000PC Aeroderivative Gas Turbines and Install Its Asset Performance Management (APM) Digital Solution at Dangote Cement Plants.
The Contract Includes Service Agreement Extension for Additional 50,000 Operating Hours for Each of the Seven GE LM6000PC Aeroderivative Gas Turbines.
The APM Digital Solution supplied by GE is expected to help the company reduce unplanned downtime and enhance operational Performance while GE’s Total Plant Solutions Will Improve Power Supply Efficiency and Help Extend the Life of the Cement Plants.
“Power supply is both a key input and a major cost in our manufacturing process,” said Ravi Sood, Operations Director, Dangote Cement Plc, adding that “Operational performance is crucial to our cement plant’s overall productivity, directly affecting end products.”
Sood further noted that “we believe extending our services agreement with GE and the introduction of digital solutions will allow us to improve efficiencies, anticipate further reductions in unplanned downtime and become more self-sufficient in power production”.
The agreement underscores GE’s commitment to work collaboratively with its customers using the APM software to optimize their performance of assets, increase reliability and availability, minimize costs and reduce operational risks.
“Energy infrastructure is getting smarter, and digital solutions allow not only the shift from traditional calendar-based repairs to predictive maintenance, but they also increase power asset availability and reliability,” said Elisee Sezan, CEO for GE’s Gas Power businesses in sub–Saharan Africa.
“We are proud to continue our 13-year collaboration with Dangote Cement to help them support Nigeria and other African countries towards achieving self-reliance and self-sufficiency in the world’s most basic commodities,” added Sezan
APM leverages cutting-edge technology to monitor the performance of power generation assets to reduce downtime, avoid turbines damage and remotely predict and resolve issues.
APM sensors will be installed not only on the seven aeroderivative turbines, but also on their associated generators and gear boxes to predict and accurately diagnose issues with greater accuracy before they occur.
