Tanzania miller selects Austrian firm

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - Bakhresa Group, one of Tanzania’s biggest holding companies has chosen an Austrian made Jenbacher J612 gas engine to power a combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Dar es Salaam.

Clarke Energy, GE’s authorized distributor of Jenbacher gas engines, is supplying the engine to the Azam flour mill in Dar es Salaam.

Bakhresa Group is in involved in the manufactuer and export of soft drinks, snacks and other confectioneries.

The deployment of this high-efficiency, gas-fueled CHP plant will help Bakhresa reduce its yearly operating costs, the company said.

“We selected GE and Clarke Energy for our site in Dar es Salaam due to the efficiency performance of similar units in Tanzania and their service support available in the country,” Rajesh Nair, the technical manager said recently.

According to a company statement, Bakhresa will use the newly available gas to generate high-efficiency, reliable power in the form of electricity and heat.

Clarke Energy will provide one of Jenbacher J612 gas engine, which is capable of generating 1.82 MW of electrical energy.

The plant will be configured as a CHP plant, with heat from the engines being fed into a steam boiler. Clarke Energy is delivering an integrated solution for the CHP plant that will incorporate both mechanical and electrical installation works along with grid connection support for the 33-kV link.

Bakhresa Group has operations in Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. There are several companies under its umbrella, and it has investments primarily in the food and beverage sector, packaging, logistics, marine passenger services, petroleum and entertainment.

“Bakhresa is one of the leading industrial houses in Tanzania, and this natural gas-fueled power generation has significant cost- and carbon-saving benefits,” said Hugh Richmond, business development director, Clarke Energy. “As Clarke Energy’s first project in Tanzania, it will help reduce the factory’s operational costs and, in parallel, deliver reliable power.”

Tanzania has large domestic reserves of gas that are located in coastal waters off the southern part of the country. There have been two gas pipelines constructed in Tanzania to transport that gas from the site of production to the site of use.

The first pipeline reached full capacity a number of years ago and supplied a limited number of industries with gas for self-consumption. The second gas pipeline has just been finished resulting in new supplies of gas being made available.

By John Sambo, Monday, April 18th, 2016


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