The Agadem oilfield wells in Niger are 2,000 km from the Beninese port of Sèmè, from where the barrels of crude oil are to be shipped in the summer of 2023.
The Chinese firm West African Oil Pipeline Company (WAPCO) specializes in the construction of oil pipelines. This subsidiary of Chinese giant CNPC has already laid the pipes needed to transport the precious “crude” and has commissioned Belgian engine manufacturer Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC) to build the nine pumping stations along the pipeline.
Twenty-one ABC 8DZC engines and ten electric motors are to drive the pumps that will transfer the crude oil from Niger to Benin. Both pumps and motors were assembled in the ABC plant in Ghent, Belgium.
The electrical and programming work for these stations was entrusted to Eiffage Energie Systèmes’ Belgian subsidiary Collignon, as subcontractor to ABC’s sister company ABC Contracting which specializes in turnkey projects in the energy sector in Africa.
Our specialists designed the electrical system for the seven pumping stations (each with three pumps) in their workshop. In addition, they built power cabinets for the 21 pumps and control cabinets for all the stations (operating auxiliaries and pumps). Their remit also included station control system programming and testing using redundant PLCs, and setting up a redundant fibre optic loop.
“ABC Contracting were persuaded by our electrical engineering expertise to entrust us with designing the power and control cabinets for the 21 pumps and building them in our workshop. Our in-depth knowledge, together with support from customer ABC, enabled us also to carry out the programming and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) of the whole system. The tests took place in the engine manufacturer’s plant in Ghent, and a comprehensive thermal survey of the cabinets was carried out before export. The cabinets were loaded into containers delivered to Niger and Benin so that ABC Contracting technicians could install and commission them on site,” explained Business Unit manager Benoit Raskin.
Our experts completed their task in record time. Despite post-Covid-19 shortages, they designed all the facilities for the seven pumping stations within ten months (excluding tests).
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