Schneider Electric (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.schneider-electric.com) has signed a contract to provide comprehensive process automation systems, solutions and services to Dangote Oil Refinery Ltd., a subsidiary of African business conglomerate Dangote Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Schneider Electric will supply its EcoStruxure system architecture and platform, comprising its EcoStruxure Foxboro distributed control system, Triconex process safety solutions, Pionir analytical fuels blending systems and a suite of SimSci and Wonderware software solutions, including its unified supply chain management and operations management software, to drive supply chain and operational efficiency, reliability and profitability improvements at Dangote’s greenfield refinery in Lagos, Nigeria, which will be a single-train facility producing an estimated 650,000 bbl/d.
“While Nigeria is the world’s eighth largest producer and exporter of crude oil, we still import nearly 80 percent of our petroleum products,” said Devakumar V. G. Edwin, group executive director, strategy, capital projects and portfolio development, Dangote Industries Ltd. “Once completed in 2019, however, the Dangote Refinery will be the world’s largest single train refinery capable of producing 33 million tons of various liquid products, including gasoline, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and other petrochemicals every year. Not only is that enough to meet all of Nigeria’s consumption needs each and every day, we will have a surplus of each of these products for export.”
“Maintaining continuously safe, reliable and efficient refinery operations will help us reach our national goal of reducing petroleum products imports and increasing our energy independence, which could help increase our country’s foreign exchange by up to $5.5 million and reduce oil imports by up to $7.5 million,” Edwin said.
As part of the agreement, Schneider Electric has created a task force between its Nigerian office and its engineering office in India, which has successfully implemented critical control and safety systems for some of the largest refineries in the world. This level of experience and expertise, coupled with Schneider Electric’s commitment to providing local support, made the company Dangote’s top choice. Schneider Electric will also provide design, engineering and installation services, not only ensuring a successful implementation from start to finish, but ensuring the workforce is equipped with the tools they need to positively impact business performance.
“Today’s industrial operations are facing two critical challenges: the increasing speed of business and the pace of technology changes, particularly in the day of IIoT,” said John Eva, senior vice president, global engineering, procurement and construction, Schneider Electric. “To help Dangote address these challenges, we are delivering and implementing value-focused technology solutions—innovation at every level—so they can move from managing their performance and business results to actually controlling them, in real time.”