Togo's thermal power plants have been without pipeline gas since 7 October, and the government is preparing to buy more of them. The national utility CEET warned on 5 October that maintenance on the West African Gas Pipeline would interrupt gas deliveries to the country's thermal plants from 7 to 22 October, and that it would switch to more expensive liquid fuels to keep part of its generation running. At the same time the energy ministry is getting ready to launch the selection process for a new 120 MW dual-fuel plant at the Lomé Thermal Power Station site, expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
What The Ministry Wants Built
The early market engagement notice, dated 31 August and issued by the Ministry in charge of Energy and Mineral Resources, describes the plant as modular dual-fuel reciprocating engine units running on natural gas, with liquid fuel as the backup. The contract is to cover:
- design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning;
- training of the operating staff;
- a maintenance commitment after provisional acceptance.
Site preparation and the environmental and social impact assessment stay with the employer. The plant will connect to the 161 kV transmission network. The project has World Bank support under Togo's National Energy Compact within the Mission 300 initiative, and any formal procurement will follow the World Bank's procurement regulations. A hybrid meeting with contractors, EPC firms, maintenance operators and possible local subcontractors was held on 18 September. Energy News Network, which reported on the project on 17 October, says the site lies in Lomé's port zone next to two existing plants and that a public-private partnership is one of the structures under discussion.
The ministry gives the reason in plain numbers: peak demand reached about 360 MW in the first quarter of 2026 and grows by roughly 10 % a year, and the country is short of dispatchable capacity to sit alongside the renewable projects it is procuring.
Why The Second Fuel Is In The Specification
This month's outage explains the dual-fuel requirement better than any tender text. Togo imports electricity and depends on Nigerian gas, Ecofin Agency notes, and the pipeline work had already been pushed back from September. A plant that can only burn gas stands still for two weeks when the pipeline stops; one with a liquid backup keeps generating, at a higher fuel cost.
For the bidders, liquid backup is more than a burner setting. Running on liquid fuel for days at a time means tank capacity and fuel deliveries on site, and engine output, emissions and heat rejection all shift between the two fuels. A plant in a coastal port zone also runs in hot, humid and salty air, which affects the engines' derating and the corrosion protection of everything outside the engine hall, cooling equipment included. Those points belong in the clarification questions once the tender documents are out.
Sources: Ministry in charge of Energy and Mineral Resources, Togo, Energy News Network, Ecofin Agency, Togo First
