GE's Distributed Power Expands Presence in Nigeria
Seeking to further expand its gas engine sales presence in Africa's oil and gas sector, GE's Distributed Power business today announced IGPES Gas & Power Limited will serve as the new authorized distributor and service provider for GE's Waukesha gas engines and genuine parts in Nigeria.
IGPES Gas & Power is a subsidiary of IGPES Limited, a wholly owned Nigerian engineering services company. IGPES has an extensive footprint in the Nigerian oil and gas industry by providing integrated engineering, procurement and construction services across the energy value chain.
"Our new distribution and services agreement with GE gives IGPES access to a gas engine technology that is highly regarded within the global oil and gas industry for its operational flexibility and durability," said Uzoma Ekpecham, managing director and CEO IGPES Gas and Power.
The new agreement will enable both IGPES and GE to support an even wider range of oil and gas production projects throughout Nigeria as Waukesha gas engines are ideally suited for a variety of on-site mechanical drive, gas compression and power generation applications.
"This agreement will bring quality service delivery to both existing and new Waukesha gas engine customers in Nigeria," said George Njenga, sub-Saharan Africa leader for GE's Distributed Power business. "It is a testament of GE's commitment to bring more distributed power solutions to our customers in both mechanical drive and power generation applications. IGPES has built a strong service track record in Nigeria's oil and gas sector and will extend this record of excellence to GE customers."
Sub-Saharan Africa is an important region for GE, which launched its Distributed Power business for Africa in Nigeria in 2014, building on GE's corporate commitment to help address the continent's need for more reliable, local energy supplies that can promote greater economic development and security in urban and rural areas. GE already has an installed base of 150 Waukesha gas engines in Nigeria.
In addition to seeking future Waukesha gas engine projects, GE's Distributed Power has announced other recent projects in Nigeria involving other parts of its portfolio:
In September 2014, GE's Distributed Power announced U.K.-based distributed power provider Clarke Energy will supply five of GE's newest 616 diesel engine technology to Flour Mills of Nigeria plc., representing GE's first sales of the 616 and delivering up to 12.5 megawatts (MW) of electrical power or enough to power 33,000 Nigerian homes. Two of the units will be used at the Kano facility in northern Nigeria. The other three 616 units will be installed at Flour Mills' facility in Apapa, Lagos. This site already features 11 of GE's Jenbacher J620 gas engines. The diesel units will provide backup generating capacity in the event of maintenance on the site's existing power equipment or in the event of a gas supply failure.
In August 2014, GE's Distributed Power announced it supplied Genesis—GEL Utility Limited with three 25-MW, trailer-mounted, TM2500+ aeroderivative gas turbines to generate uninterrupted power at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation's state oil refinery at Port Harcourt, Nigeria.