Clarke Energy invests £650k in Lagos plant

Clarke Energy is to invest £650,000 in a diesel engine assembly plant in Lagos, Nigeria, which will create 22 jobs initially.

Working with French firm Kohler SDMO, the Knowsley-based company plans to open its first plant of its kind in the country, which it says demonstrates the companies’ continued commitment to international trade.

The facility is set to assemble diesel genset units up to 700kW, with plans to further expand capabilities building larger units once the plant is completely operational.

Clarke Energy, Kohler SDMO and their local distributors will sell the generators making use of the company’s engineering, installation and maintenance capabilities, and the smaller units are to be sold via local distributors.

Nigeria installs around 20,000 diesel units per year, but only 15% of the current market share is imported due to the import tax imposed by the government.

It was, therefore, identified that it was essential to set up a local facility to deliver competitiveness and profitability while maintaining the highest standards of manufacturing using technicians trained in the UK and France.

The assembly plant is the first of its type by Clarke Energy in any of the 25 countries in which it operates.

The project has utilised the companies’ experience across project management, finance and service and complements the gas-to-power based installations that the company excels in globally.

Clarke Energy says it is also a success as a Franco-British collaboration with Kohler SDMO, with both companies working together in unison sharing manufacturing experience along with local market knowledge.

The Merseyside firm is approaching 20 years’ experience of operating in Nigeria, with more than 360MW delivered for a wide range of applications, backed by local and responsive after sales support.

Clarke Energy has recently supplied its first hybrid power generation solution, delivered to OK Plast in Lagos, demonstrating engineering
capabilities to deliver hybrid power generation solutions for microgrids.

Alan Fletcher, Clarke Energy’s managing director for Africa, said: “The investment in the first assembly plant for Clarke Energy and partnership with our sister company Kohler SDMO will help to improve the costs and availability of the Kohler generating sets in Nigeria.

“In parallel we are creating jobs in the country and expanding our existing local capabilities.”

Hervé Prigent, Kohler SMDO’s general manager, added: “Clarke Energy’s strong presence in Nigeria made them an ideal partner to work together to assemble our diesel gensets in Nigeria.

“We will be building to the highest standards in country, in parallel improving our customer’s access to, and pricing of, these generating sets.”

Clarke Energy joined Prime Minister Theresa May, and several other key UK manufacturers, at the weekend on her tour of Africa aimed at increasing UK investment and opportunities across the continent.

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