The culmination of the world’s most expansive granulated urea fertiliser project is days ahead.
Dangote Fertiliser Limited Tuesday declared that practically all the segments of the three million tonnes output per annum plant had been completed.
Units like the cooling tower, granulation plant, ammonia and urea bulk storage, central control room and power generator are undergoing the scrutiny of test run.
The epoch-making venture, said to be worth $2 billion, is midwifed by a consortium comprising Saipem, a subsidiary of Eni, itself a global oil and gas powerhouse, and Mumbai-based Tata Consulting Engineers.
Situated on a 500-hectare site in Lagos’s Lekki Free Trade Zone, there is no end yet to its potential considering that the new plant occupies just a parcel out of the sprawling expanse belonging to the company.
The Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) and Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) have commenced supplying gas to the plant following a Gas Sale and Purchase deal of 70 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, an affirmation of the scale of ambition of Africa’s richest man’s foray into the petrochemical business.
When fully completed, the plant will add thousands of jobs to national labour force and buoy agricultural production considerably while obviating Nigeria’s massive fertiliser spending via import, a statement from the firm reads.
Devakumar Edwin, Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development and Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, said the enterprise would aid Nigeria’s passage from fertiliser importation to exportation by not only saving the nation $500 million but also guarantee self-sufficiency and generate $400 million from export.
“The supply of fertiliser from the plant will be enough for the Nigerian market and neighbouring countries.
