MAN Diesel & Turbo is increasingly expanding its business activities across the African continent. The company has received an order for two dual-fuel, large-bore diesel engines of type 18V51/60DF, including the electromechanical equipment for generating electricity, worth some Euro 13 million.

The systems are to produce more than 35 MW of electricity for the power grid in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, and thereby help stabilise the electricity supply. The customer is the Israeli power firm Telemenia Ltd., which is building the power plant for the Gabon government. It is set to go into operation in 2011. Since 2009, the engines and systems builder has supplied large-bore diesel engines and technical equipment for power generation worth around Euro 90 million to African countries such as Egypt, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Madagascar and the Cape Verde Islands.

Dual-fuel engines from MAN Diesel & Turbo can either be operated with liquid fuel or natural gas. In Gabon’s case particularly, this is a crucial advantage: the west African country has gas and crude oil reserves that can be used with modern MAN dual-fuel engines to produce energy efficiently. The primary source of fuel will be natural gas, but if there are any gaps in the supply, the engines can be switched over at any time to heavy fuel oil, diesel or bio-fuel.