FPT engines invests US$3.5B in Baladna’s dairy project

ALGERIA – FPT, alongside distributors Bimotor and Avoni Industrial, has partnered with Green Power Systems to provide power generation equipment for an agro-industrial project in Algeria.

The US$3.5 billion project, co-funded by the Algerian National Investment Fund and Qatari dairy producer Baladna, will include one of the world’s largest integrated dairy farms and powdered milk production facilities.

Located in Adrar province, the facility is scheduled to begin production in late 2027. Once fully operational, it is expected to produce up to 100,000 tonnes of powdered milk per year, meeting around half of Algeria’s domestic demand.

The project is being developed in a Saharan region where temperatures often exceed 40°C for more than 130 days a year. As a result, irrigation will play a central role in growing crops to feed the dairy herd.

Green Power Systems has supplied 50 GP330 S/I-A generator sets powered by FPT CURSOR 13 engines. The units provide up to 330 kVA and will support round-the-clock operation of central pivot irrigation systems.

Central pivot irrigation uses rotating equipment fitted with sprinklers to water crops in circular areas around a fixed point. The method is widely used on large plots of arid land because it can reduce labour requirements and improve water efficiency compared with some conventional irrigation approaches.

Flavio Faggiolini, export area manager for Green Power Systems, said the company’s involvement reflected its role in supplying power generation systems for large-scale agro-industrial and infrastructure projects.

“In projects of this magnitude, power continuity is essential to ensure the proper functioning of the entire infrastructure,” he said. “The collaboration with FPT Industrial contributed to delivering a solution aligned with the reliability requirements of the operational context.”

Vittorio Bertalli, head of sales EMEA at FPT, added: “Being part of such a large-scale project, meant to improve Algeria’s food security and to create about 5,000 local jobs, is both a great honour and a great responsibility.”

The CURSOR 13 engine is designed for power generation applications and can be configured for emissions standards ranging from unregulated markets to Stage V and Tier 4 Final requirements.

It features an electronically controlled unit injector system and is designed to support load response, fuel efficiency and extended service intervals.

For the Green Power Systems project, the C13 configuration is unregulated and features a 12.9-litre, six-cylinder engine. It delivers 300 kW of prime power at 1500 rpm and 327 kW at 1800 rpm, with standby power of 330 kW and 360 kW respectively.

To receive our email newsletters with the latest news and insights from Africa, the Middle East and around the world, SUBSCRIBE HERE.