Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc, Nigeria’s second-biggest cement producer, plans to sell about 40 megawatts of excess power to the national grid to improve power supply in the country.

Michael Awanayah, General Manager at Lafarge, speaking at the West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC), said the company was “looking to be one of the first manufacturers to sell power” and help reduce blackouts in the country.

Currently, Lafarge uses only 40 to 50 megawatts out of 90 megawatts generated by its local power plant.

In a bid to meet their electricity needs, manufacturers operating within Africa’s most populous nation have been forced to generate power by building plants.

Over 300 megawatts of that power lies fallow, according to BusinessDay.

Lafarge is not the only one seeking to sell its excess electricity, Awanayah said.

According to reports, Dangote Group, the parent company of Nigeria’s biggest cement producer, Dangote cement and chocolate-maker Cadbury Nigeria Plc are also considering doing the same thing.

Abba Ibrahim of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said the body has since taken on the role of intermediary between the power suppliers and the industrial companies.

“We are working with manufacturers to produce a database of all those willing to add capacity to the grid,” he said.