New power plant in Senegal

MAN Diesel & Turbo has completed the construction of a diesel combined cycle plant in Africa. Designed to operate with five MAN 18V48/60 engines and a MAN MARC® steam turbine, the new power plant has a production capacity of up to 96 MW. It is the second plant in Africa to make use of MAN’s diesel combined cycle product package. The steam turbine is driven by waste heat from the engines, which in turn generates 6.6 MW of electricity.

The power plant, which is located in Tobène in the region of Thiès, 90 km north of Dakar, will supply to the national grid that is operated by Senegal’s national electricity company, SENELEC. It will generate the equivalent of 15% of the country’s current electricity consumption. This electricity will be used to power businesses, shops, universities and houses, thus providing a whole host of new opportunities for growth within Senegal, which currently experiences recurring power outages.

The diesel combined cycle product package is claimed to offer ‘outstanding performance and excellent environmental standards’. According to Mesut Yentur, CEO of MAN Diesel & Turbo France and Head of Power Plant Sales in the French-speaking regions of Western Africa, fuel consumption is lowered by 6% and CO₂ emissions are ‘also reduced for every kWh produced’.

Working in partnership with MATELEC, a Lebanese company specialising in electricity infrastructures, the new plant was commissioned in just over 15 months.

An expansion is already planned. By adding a diesel engine, the plant’s generation capacity will be increased from 96 MW to 115 MW by the end of the second working phase.

Source: MAN Diesel & Turbo