Integrated Medical Industries Limited (IMIL), a Nigerian medical equipment maker, has contracted with Clarke Energy to install a captive power plant on the front line of the battle against malaria and aids.
Double first:
- The manufacturing plant is the first World Health Organization (WHO) Performance Quality Safety (PQS) pre-qualified plant in Western Sub-Saharan Africa. This plant will manufacture syringes and other medical supplies destined for the West and Central Africa Markets
- The 14MW power plant will feature the first three 24-cylinder stationery gas engines from GE in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The combined heat and power (CHP) plant will ensure reliable, economical supplies of electricity and heat. IMIL is a Nigerian company based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. IMIL has become the first, in West African sub-region, to obtain the most coveted WHO pre-qualification, for auto-disable (AD) syringes.
The new facility comes at a crucial time in Africa’s fight against malaria and other infectious diseases. According to the WHO about half the world’s population is at risk of malaria, HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. In 2010 there were approximately 216 million malaria cases and 0.7 million estimated deaths. People living in poor regions are at most risk from malaria. ‘In 2010, 90% of all malaria deaths occurred in the WHO African Region, mostly among children under five years of age.’ (WHO 2012)
The Pan African Health Foundation (PAHF), with the sponsorship and collaboration of the Rivers State Government, recently began implementing the US$275 million, integrated medical industries project. PAHF operates an existing equipment production facility at the IMIL site, which is licensed by the WHO to produce both products.
Reliable power supplies are essential for the smooth operation of the medical devices plants. Interruptions in the supply of power can damage production batches destined to treat these infectious diseases. Demand for electricity in Nigeria is high and the national grid has a challenge meeting this demand. Nigeria’s gas distribution network is growing however, and can now deliver gas to industrial facilities in Port Harcourt. Gas as a fuel for the production of electricity offers significant cost savings over diesel, with the additional capital expenditure typically being paid off between 12-18 months.
The captive power plant will be embedded within the manufacturing facility and will operate in island mode. Natural gas supplied from Nigeria’s growing gas distribution network will provide reliable supplies of fuel for the syringe plant. This will also help to contribute to the Nigerian Government’s ambitious targets for the development of electrical generation infrastructure in the country. The gas will be converted at high efficiency into electricity and useful heat via combined heat and power technology and will have significant environmental benefits over diesel generation. In addition the plant will feature the first three of GE’s 24-cylinder Jenbacher gas engines to be installed in Sub-Saharan Africa. GE’s J624 is the world’s first 24 cylinder gas engine and is characterised by high efficiency and reliable performance. Clarke Energy will act as single point of contact from initial sale, project management, engineering, installation through to commissioning and long-term, reliable maintenance of the power plant.
A total of three of GE’s J624 engines (4MWe each) and one J612 (2MW) will be installed providing a total of 14.093MW of electrical power for the facility. In addition the plant will be configured for combined heat and power, recovering thermal energy from the exhausts of the J624s to raise steam in a boiler. GE is scheduled to deliver the gas engines in Q3 2013
Amenya Wokoma, Project Director/CEO for IMI said ‘We selected Clarke Energy and GE’s Jenbacher gas engines following a comprehensive assessment of technology options. We are confident this will deliver reliable supplies of power to our production plant using the most advanced technology.’
Jamie Clarke CEO of Clarke Energy states ‘Clarke Energy is delighted to be making a contribution to the global fight against malaria. The gas-fuelled power plant will deliver reliable supplies of electricity to the facility, helping ensure continuous production of important healthcare products.’
The Rivers State-supported Pan African Health Foundation (PAHF) recently underwent an evaluation by the WHO Performance Quality Safety (PQS) pre-qualification as a manufacturer of AD syringes for immunisation and curative syringes with reuse prevention feature. Director General of NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration) received the pre-qualification certificate at formal presentation by the WHO to Rivers State Government along with a tour of PAHF’s facilities in Port Harcourt in December 2012.
IMIL is a registered company which is solely owned by the Rivers State Government and will specialise in the high volume production of syringes and intravenous drug bottles and other medical devices which will be used predominantly in the fight against infectious diseases within Africa. As part of the group the Pan African Health Foundation has an existing production facility on the site which has recently been licensed by the WHO to produce both products on their behalf. This has enabled the client’s vision of a high-tech, quality and large volume facility to become a reality which is planned to be in full operation early 2014.
The Honourable Commissioner for Health Rivers State, Dr. Sampson Parker said ‘PAHF, with the sponsorship and collaboration of the Rivers State Government has begun the implementation of a US $275 million integrated medical industries project. This comprises of a 1 billion syringes per annum syringe plant, 1 billion per annum hypodermic needles plant a 105 million sets per annum intravenous (IV)-Giving-Set Plant, a 90 million litres per annum IV solutions/medication and injectables plant, and a 14 megawatt electrical output captive gas-fired power plant.’
Patrick Nzekwe, General Manager of Clarke Energy’s Nigerian operations said ‘Africa’s disease burden has remained a major barrier to Africa’s socio economic development. We are excited to play a role in reducing this heavy burden by providing a reliable, sustainable power supply for the WHO approved manufacturing plant.’
“When it comes to deploying the best available distributed power solutions to the front lines of Africa’s battle against malaria, IMIL recognized that GE’s J624 technology is ideally suited to ensure it has the power needed maintain its production of vital medical equipment,” said Karl Wetzlmayer, General Manager of gas engines for power generation—GE Power & Water.
Nigeria Contact
Wale Raphael-Yusuff, Sales Manager, Clarke Energy
waleraphael-yusuff@clarke-energy.com
+234 807 5090040
No. 28 Joel Ogunnaike Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
UK Contact
Alex Marshall, Group Marketing Manager, Clarke Energy
alex.marshall@clarke-energy.com
+44 7917 066 242
Senator Point, South Boundary Road, Knowsley Industrial Park, Liverpool, L33 7RR
Clarke Energy
Clarke Energy was established in 1989 in the north-west of England as an engine service provider. Since this time it has grown strongly focusing on engineering, installation and maintenance of gas-fuelled power plants. These power plants typically range in size from 0.3-50MW and Clarke Energy’s global installed base is in excess of 2,600 megawatts electrical output across 12 countries. Clarke Energy recently recorded record profits and a turnover of £207million and now employs in excess of 800 people worldwide. In 2012 ECI Partners acquired a minority stake in Clarke Energy.
Clarke Energy is an authorised distributor and service provider for GE’s Gas Engines business. GE’s Jenbacher gas engine is manufactured in Austria and is specialised to accept a range of different fuel gases.
These engines have a range of different applications including:
Captive power plants – A captive power plant is a facility for the production of electricity that is dedicated to an individual facility. They often are able to operate in island mode operation (i.e. independently of the local electricity network and can help deliver stable supplies of power if the national grid is unreliable). If operated in a cogeneration configuration they are characterised by high efficiency and low emissions relative to straight electricity generation.
Renewable power production – Gas engines can be used to convert renewable gaseous fuels into electricity and heat. These fuels include biogas produced from the anaerobic digestion of waste, sewage gas and landfill gas.
Flare gas / associated petroleum gas (APG) – Gas engines can be used to convert gas produced during the petroleum extraction process into reliable on-site power. This helps to reduce environmental emissions associated with the petroleum industry and can give local people much-needed power.
Clarke Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa
Clarke Energy has had a long history in Sub-Saharan Africa with its first office opening in Apapa, Lagos in 2005. Clarke Energy has since installed over 180MW of gas fuelled power plants on the back of the expansion of Nigeria’s domestic gas supplies. Since inception, Clarke Energy’s Nigerian operations have expanded and moved to Ikeja GRA, opening a new branch office in Port Harcourt in 2012.
In Nigeria, Clarke Energy has installed power plants for a large number of major industrial facilities including Diageo (Guinness Ogba and Benin breweries), PZ Cousins, GlaxoSmithKline, Oando, Dunlop and Flour Mills of Nigeria.
These power plants are backed-up and supported by teams of African service engineers who have been trained in Austria and the UK to the highest standards. Clarke Energy’s policy of localisation means the employment of local nationals at all levels of the business and ensures development of in-country skills and knowledge.
Clarke Energy has recently expanded and now has an office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and is looking to transfer its successful Nigerian business model to other countries in Africa.
Technical Terms
Cogeneration / Combined Heat and Power (CHP):– The process of converting a fuel into power in the form of electricity and heat. CHP can achieve efficiency levels in excess of 90% ensuring these systems are characterised by low emissions.
Gas engine – A reciprocating gas engine in this instance for the production of power in the form of electricity and useful heat
Captive power plant – A captive power plant is one which is dedicated to an industrial or commercial facility. This provides power in the form of electricity and heat and can be isolated from the electricity grid. This provides the customer with reliable power supplies in the event of grid failure.
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