LPG to Power – Transatlantic Cooperation
In June 2025 a delegation of Togolese engineers from Zener, Togo’s largest LPG importer and distributor and CEET, the Togolese Electric Generation Company, visited the Termo Caribe Power Plant in Cartagena, Colombia.
Termo Caribe is one of the first power plants using a Siemens Energy SGT 800 turbine capable of burning either natural gas or LPG. Termo Caribe is a peaking power plant providing approximately 50MW electricity to the Columbian electricity grid during the country’s dry season between December and May when hydropower is running low. LPG (propane) prices have at times been lower than prices for natural gas as Columbia’s natural gas resources continue to deplete.
View of the Termo Caribe III power plant in Cartagena, Colombia
The main purposes of the mission were to understand the general process of Propane-to-Power and how LPG is transformed into a gas through a vaporiser before it enters into the power generation turbine. The Termo Caribe power plant is a state-of-the-art power plant which was completed in 2024 and includes three semi-mounded LPG tanks with at total on-site storage capacity of 521MT – sufficient for two and a half days of operation. There are some valuable lessons learned using LPG as a feedstock from an engineering perspective.
The visiting Togolese delegation is interested in applying these learnings as they prepare the Kekeli Efficient Power Plant in Lomé, Togo to alternatively operate on natural gas delivered through the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) and LPG as a back-up fuel. The Kekeli power plant has been using diesel as a back-up fuel which is more than twice as expensive than propane on a like for like basis and has a greater carbon impact. As the fuel for a power plant accounts for approximately 70% of the electricity costs the cost savings through the use of a less expensive and a cleaner feedstock is important from an environmental as well as an economic perspective.
Siemens Energy has been at the forefront of LPG to the development of LPG and natural gas capable turbines. A recent installation of one of its multifuel turbines was in Germany for a petrochemical client. Two further units have been ordered in West Africa for a project that is designed to use LPG as prime fuel for operations.
As new projects operating on propane come online the cost advantages especially for decentralised power generation in places with access to LPG will become more obvious with further projects likely to emerge. Zener is positioned as key player of Propane-to-Power and is building increasing competences going forward.
For more information
Contact: Christoph Reimnitz, Chair of WLGA Power Generation Working Group
creimnitz@worldliquidgas.org