Dangote says Kenya Refinery to Double Nigerian Plant Capacity

Dangote Group is developing its planned Lamu Refinery in Kenya with power-generation capacity twice that of its Nigerian refinery, and it will also introduce heavier processing equipment and a coker in the East African project.

The power plant at the Lamu Refinery will generate about 1,000 megawatts (MW), with 500MW expected to be available for sale to the Kenyan government.

The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, disclosed this at the weekend during a visit by Kenyan President, William Ruto, to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.

Dangote also revealed that some of the processing equipment at Lamu would be heavier than that installed at the Nigerian refinery, while the Kenyan facility would feature a coker that is not present at the Lagos plant.

He said the larger power-generation capacity would be part of the infrastructure supporting the Lamu refinery, while the surplus electricity would provide an additional power source for Kenya.

Explaining the difference in scale to Ruto, Dangote said the Kenyan facility would be larger than what the President had seen during his tour of the Lagos refinery.

“Here I will give you a sense of an idea of what we’re going to have in Kenya just that Kenya will be a little bit bigger than what you are going to see, Your Excellency, today,” he said.

The proposed refinery is expected to have a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, according to the project details discussed during the visit.

Meanwhile, Ruto confirmed September 30, 2026, as the date for the groundbreaking of the Lamu Refinery, saying the project had moved beyond planning, with Kenya already securing the land required for its development.

He added that the Kenyan government was working on the other conditions required to move the project forward without administrative delays.

He also said the refinery would help to elevate Kenya’s industrial scale by creating opportunities in engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, business and other areas.