Dangote Fertilizer Limited has begun countdown to the inauguration of its $2 billion Granulated Urea Fertilizer complex, with several critical sections of the plant going through various stages of pre-commissioning and test-run.
With a capacity of three million tonnes per annum, the plant complex located in the Dangote Free Zone, has been classified as the biggest project in the entire fertilizer industry history in the world.
Saipem of Italy is the Engineering, Procurement and Supervision (EP) Contractor for the project, while Tata Consulting Engineers, India, is the Project Management Consultants (PMC).
According to a statement yesterday by the company, virtually all the section of the plant such as Central Control Room, Ammonia and Urea Bulk Storage, Cooling Tower, Power Generator Plant, Granulation Plant, have been completed and are going through pre-testing.
Already, Dangote Fertilizer has started receiving gas supply from the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) and Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) under the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement to supply 70 million standard cubic feet per day (Scf/d) of natural gas to Dangote Fertilizer Limited.
The statement added that the project, which will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in construction and related fields, will provide a major boost to the agricultural sector by significantly reducing the importation of fertilizer in Nigeria and ultimately removing the need for imports when the plant is in full production.
The Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development and Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, said Nigeria would be able to save $500 million from import substitution and provide $400 million from exports of products from the fertiliser plant. (Thisday)
