Gas challenge forces CCNN to develop coal- fired plant
Gas supply challenge and high cost of low pour fuel oil (LPFO) have forced the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) to initiate a coal-fired captive plant in Sokoto State.
CCNN, Nigeria’s fifth largest cement maker, currently depends on the imported and expensive LPFO to sustain its production, Sada Suleiman, head of corporate affairs told Real Sector Watch.
“The most critical problem we have here is power,” Suleiman said in a telephone chat.
“Unfortunately, our refineries are not working, so we do not have gas pipelines here in Sokoto. We are using LPFO, which is mainly imported,” he said.
He said the firm had 16 mega watts of power with which it sustains its production, stressing that high cost of LPFO drove CCNN to initiate a coal power project.
“We are developing a coal mill from where we intend to source our power,” he said.
Research has shown that cement, like iron and steel, requires much energy in its production process. Many cement firms depend on gas, LPFO or renewable energy to sustain production as power supply poses biggest challenge to businesses in Africa’s largest economy.
Lafarge currently harnesses about 30 percent of renewable energy for power supply in its plants, targeting use of 50 percent non-fossil fuels, including 30 percent biomass in plants by 2020, said Guillaume Roux, its CEO.
Ashaka Cement is also building a coal-fired captive power plant that will supply regular energy during the production process.
Suleiman also said CCNN, also known as Sokoto Cement, was pumping N48 billion into the ongoing modernisation of its facilities meant to triple production capacity from current 500,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 1.5 million MTPA.
He attributed the inability of the company’s products to have reached the southern part of the country to capacity shortage and logistic challenge.
“You know that moving goods to the parts of the country may not put economies of scale on your side. Again, it is also partly due to lack of capacity because 500,000 tonnes may not satisfy own market and the market outside here (North),” he said, adding that 100 percent of raw materials used in CCNN factory were sourced locally.
ODINAKA ANUDU