Gboko Cement power station
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Gboko Cement power station is an operating power station of at least 38-megawatts (MW) in Gboko, Benue, Nigeria. It is also known as Benue Cement power station.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Gboko Cement power station | Gboko, Benue, Nigeria | 7.411, 8.974 (approximate) |
The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal - unknown, fossil gas - unknown, fossil liquids - diesel | 38.5 | unknown | – | – |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Dangote Industries Ltd [100.0%] |
Project-level captive use details
- Captive industry use (heat or power): cement & building
- Captive industry: Power
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): unknown
Background
The Benue Cement Company Plc (BCC) Gboko cement plant started producing cement around 1980. BCC was taken over by Dangote Cement Plc.[1]
At 4 million tonnes (mt), Gboko is the smallest of Dangote's cement factories in Nigeria. Because of its distance from the national gas infrastructure, Gboko was designed to run its kilns entirely on Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and use diesel to generate electricity. Dangote mothballed Gboko in November 2014 in order to convert it to run entirely on coal by the middle of 2015, which was expected to substantially increase its profitability.[2]
The cement plant has had to temporarily shutdown and operate at half capacity at various times because of glut in the cement market and other challenges facing the industry.[3][4][5] According to Dangote's 2021 annual report, the plant has resumed production.[6]
In addition, a disagreement between two workers at the Dangote Benue Cement factory escalated into a full-scale blood-bath in August 2011, leading to reports of 20 deaths and the destruction of 154 trucks and 60 cars belonging to the company.[7]
Dangote's interest in coal
In 2014, it was reported that the Dangote Group was planning to establish three coal fired power plants, one each for its cement plants in Obajana in Kogi State (Obajana Cement power station), Ibese in Ogun State (Ibese Cement power station), and Gboko in Benue State.[8] Dangote has pursued coal use at its plants to reduce costs. A company statement summarized the following: "Originally designed to use LPFO, Gboko is being equipped with coal milling facilities so that its kilns can run more cost-effectively on the cheaper fuel. Gboko was mothballed throughout most of 2015..."[9]
Moves by major industrialists and electricity-generating companies to import coal from South Africa to augment industrial power generation reopened the debate on the abandoned 2.75 billion tonnes coal deposits in Enugu and other parts of Nigeria.[10]
Dangote's interest in alternative fuels
In September 2023, Dangote Cement announced that they aimed to cut fossil fuel use by 25% in all of their cement plants by 2025. The company was reportedly planning to install alternative fuel (AF) feeding systems into all of their operating lines by 2024.[11] AF systems were already in place at select lines at the company's Ibese Cement power station and Obajana Cement power station.[12]
Public health & environmental impacts
Dangote's cement plants and related power stations have negatively impacted Nigerian communities. For example, in 2017, the Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism (RCDIJ) published a detailed report documenting the many ways the Obajana Cement power station affected public health and the environment.[13]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ "Review of Operational Constraints Responsible For Benue Cement Company’s Inability to Achieve Strategic Business Mission And Objectives," International Journal of Business and Management Review, Vol.5, No.5, pp.38-57, June 2017
- ↑ "Gboko Cement Plant," Dangote Cement PLC, accessed December 2021
- ↑ "Dangote Cement's Gboko Plant shuts down as Dumping hits Nigeria's Cement Market," Proshare, December 6, 2012
- ↑ "Dangote reopens Gboko Cement Plant, To Operate at Half Capacity," Proshare, February 1, 2013
- ↑ "Benue cement company shut down over alleged N190 million tax evasion," Proshare, undated
- ↑ "Annual Report 2021," Dangote, December 6, 2021
- ↑ "20 dead in cement plant carnage," Global Cement staff, August 24, 2011
- ↑ “Dangote to build three coal power plants for cement factories,” The Nation, August 15, 2014
- ↑ "Dangote Cement switches to coal to power plants," Sweet Crude Reports, July 16, 2016
- ↑ "COAL-DEAD! Living with ghosts of Enugu’s forgotten mine pits," The Nation, December 5, 2021
- ↑ "Dangote to cut dependence on fuel by 25%," Punch Nigeria, September 13, 2023
- ↑ "Annual Report and Accounts 2022," Dangote Cement PLC, April 2023
- ↑ "A trail of broken promises: The story of Dangote Cement and the people of Obajana (1)," Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism (RCDIJ), March 13, 2017
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
