Tanzanian $1bn Fertiliser Plant 'Still in Early Phase'

Planning for a 1.3mn metric ton/yr fertiliser plant in Tanzania – the country’s first, and a major gas customer -- continues but the project is “still in an early phase” and more than a year from financial close, a member of the investor consortium has told Natural Gas Africa this week.

Tanzanian President John Magufuli met with ambassadors from Denmark and Germany on May 19, according to local reports, one of which put the project cost at $3bn and said building work could begin this year, while another said it would be sited at Kilwa, in Lindi province, southern Tanzania.

Danish technology firm Haldor Topsoe though told NGA on May 23: “Work is ongoing and we expect financial close by the end of 2017 or in the beginning of 2018. We expect to build in the southern part of Tanzania but it is too early to name a specific site.” It expects the project still to cost above $1bn, the figure given in its joint press statement with partners in October 2015.

 Map credit: Wentworth Resources

Last October, Haldor Topsoe said the investor group, German company Ferrostaal as consortium lead developer, Topsoe and Pakistani firm Fauji Fertilizer, together with state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) announced they had set up a joint venture to build the more than $1bn world-class fertiliser plant by 2020 “in southern Tanzania.”

Topsoe said then it would deliver engineering design, licensing, proprietary hardware, catalysts and additional services. Its CEO Bjerne Clausen said at the time: “The plant will enable Tanzania to monetize its huge gas reserves in the production of fertilizer as well as create jobs and boost agricultural productivity."

“Gas sourcing is being investigated - and no conclusions can be drawn at this point in time,” a Haldor Topsoe spokesman told NGA May 23.

Kilwa is close to the Madimba 210mn ft³/d gas process plant, which feeds gas from Mnazi Bay into a 487 km Chinese-built pipeline north to the capital Dar es Salaam. The Mnazi Bay field, near Madimba, has been producing some 65mn ft³/d and is contracted to supply at a pre-agreed price up to 80mn ft³/d, rising by 2017-18 to about 130mn ft³/d, to TPDC, say operator Maurel & Prom and its partner Wentworth. TPDC supplies the gas to power plants in the capital. Meanwhile UK firm Aminex is exploring near Madimba: this summer it will drill a well to appraise its Ntorya discovery. Its new Kiliwani North is halfway along the pipeline to the capital, close to the long-established Orca-operated Songo Songo field. Another firm Dodsal has found gas near the capital.

Mark Smedley