TheNewsGuru

Tag: Power Plant

  • Buhari-led FG wants to sell our five power plants – Shehu Sani

    Buhari-led FG wants to sell our five power plants – Shehu Sani

    Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani has claimed President Muhammadu Buhari wants to sell five power plants to raise N260 billion to fund the 2023 budget.

    Sani disclosed this on Wednesday in a post via his verified Twitter handle.

    He also alleged that the administration wants to sell public assets to itself.

    He wrote, “After piling up N44 trillion debt; With less than six months to go, the Buhari-led FG wants to sell our five power plants to raise N260 billion in the name of funding the 2023 budget.

    “When they want to sell public assets to themselves, they will hide themselves & send their business friends to ‘bid’. After buying the assets, they will appoint their children, Brothers or inlaws to chair the Board. After 5 years or more, the identity of the real buyer will be known.”

  • How I ameliorated the terrible electricity situation in Southeast -Bart Nnaji

    How I ameliorated the terrible electricity situation in Southeast -Bart Nnaji

    Nigeria’s former Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, has revealed how he helped in ameliorating the terrible electricity situation in the Southeast by setting up a 188-megawatt power plant in Aba through his company, Geometric Power.

    Nnaji, the chairman and CEO of Geometric Power Limited, made the disclosure on Tuesday at the 58th birthday of Abia State governor Okezie Ikpeazu in the governor’s country home, Umuoboakwa, Obingwa Local Government Area of the state.

    The former minister of Power recounted an ugly experience he had when he purchased a large expanse of land in Emene, Enugu to build a company to manufacture vehicle spare parts, including auto engines, only to discover that it could not take off because of the poor electricity situation in the Southeast in particular and the country in general.

    The Nnewi initiative is an eloquent example of what the Igbo can do once they have the opportunity

    Nnaji who is also a distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States and Director of e-Design of the United States National Science Foundation, said the second reason was the request from the then Nigerian Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, now the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the then World Bank President, Dr James Wolfohnson, to build a 50MW power plant in Aba to assist both big and small manufacturers.

    He said, “They made the request in 2004 after visiting Aba and saw the enormous economic and technological potentials of this city, the headquarters of indigenous technology in Nigeria, but was being paralysed by poor electricity.

    “Both Dr Okonjo-Iweala and Dr Wolfohnson asked me to consider building this power plant because a team of Nigerian engineers I led had successfully built a 22MW emergency power plant in Abuja in 2001 to supply uninterrupted electricity to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation headquarters in Abuja, State House, Central Bank and the Abuja Business District.

    “What they didn’t know is that I was already reflecting on how I could help ameliorate the terrible electricity situation in the Southeast.”

    “We can say without fear of contradiction that the request from Okonjo-Iweala and Wolfohnson was a divine intervention,” Nnaji added.

    He explained that the provision of basic infrastructure like electricity in the Southeast and elsewhere in Igboland would trigger the beginning of a development miracle from which all Nigerians would benefit.

    It is imperative, he stated, that the Igbo and all the people of the former Eastern Region regain the development momentum of the First Republic during which the government and people built the University of Nigeria, African Continental Bank, Nigeria Cement Company at Nkalagu in today’s Ebonyi State, the Nigersteel company, Nigergas, Hotel Presidential and many others which enabled the region to become the fastest developing place in the world in the mid-1960s.

    The industrial engineering professor said that if he had located the Geometric Power plant in Ikeja Industrial Estate or Ilupeju Industrial Layout in Lagos State or in the Agbara Estate in Ogun State, he would have gotten a faster return on investment, but Igboland “which is in dire need of such infrastructure would continue to suffer.”

    He paid a glowing tribute to the Nnewi people in Anambra State for resolving and successfully developing their homeland after the Nigerian civil war even without roads and electricity.

    “The Nnewi initiative is an eloquent example of what the Igbo can do once they have the opportunity”, he said, charging other communities to feel challenged by Nnewi’s accomplishments.

    Nnaji observed that the rapid development of Eastern Nigeria would make it unnecessary for “millions of our people to leave for Lagos, Abuja or overseas in search of better living conditions.

    “I, therefore, urge all Eastern investors to start thinking home. Charity starts at home,” he added.

    Other speakers at the Governor Ikpeazu 58th birthday colloquium include Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria who chaired it, former Senate President Adolph Wabara who is the acting chairman of the PDP board of Trustees, Darl Uzu, chief promoter of the Enyimba Economic City, veteran journalist Ray Ekpu and Ohaneze president, George Obiozor who was represented by an Ohaneze leader in Abia State.

    Others are the president of the National Association of chambers of Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Ide John Udeagbala, and former Abia State House of Assembly Deputy Speaker Emeka Stanley as well as a host of traditional rulers.

  • Okowa performs ground-breaking for 400MW power plant

    Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa yesterday performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a 400MW combined cycle power plant, expressing joy that Delta State has become hub for investors in the gas sector.

    The Governor who performed the ground-breaking ceremony at Ekrokpe/Ekrejegbe, Ughelli South local government area said, “we are glad as a state that we will be a hub for power generation because of the peaceful nature of our state and huge deposit of gas.”

    “The Nigerian government has continued in her struggle to provide energy for development and for home services in our country but, we know we are faced with challenges and with the private sector becoming more interested in generating energy, there is great hope that the energy need of this country would be catered for in the nearest future,” he said.

    Governor Okowa who expressed excitement for performing the ceremony noted that with the increase in the number of energy generating companies, it was important for the distribution companies to see that Nigerians are satisfied.

    He urged the host communities to maintain their peaceful dispositions and urged then not to demand so much from the company while asking the company, Onose TBEA Energy Limited to meet with its social corporate responsibilities, and ensure that youths from the area are engaged in the construction work of the plant and are also, employed when the company commences its operations.

    Chairman of Onose Tbea, General Alexander Ogomudia (rtd) had in an address, said, “without power we will be wasting our time in terms of development.”

    He stated that though the company was commencing operations by generating 400 MW of electricity, the target is to contribute 2000 MW of electricity to the national grid.

    The Managing Director of the company, Mr Jim Elueni in an address to welcome dignitaries, said, “the Governor of Delta State, Senator Okowa, in appreciating the importance of this project to his state, has wasted no time in granting us all approvals that arrived at his desk in the pursuit of this laudable project.”

     

  • Delta: Gov Okowa performs groundbreaking for 400MW power plant in Ughelli

    Delta: Gov Okowa performs groundbreaking for 400MW power plant in Ughelli

    Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa on Thursday performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a 400 megawatts combined cycle power plant at Ekrokpe/Ekrejegbe, Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.

    The governor while performing the function said that the state would soon become a hub for investors in the gas sector.

    “We are glad as a state that we will be a hub for power generation because of the peaceful nature of our state and huge deposit of gas.

    “The Nigerian government has continued in her struggle to provide energy for development and for home services in our country.

    “But we know we are faced with challenges and with the private sector becoming more interested in generating energy, there is great hope that the energy need of this country would be catered for in the nearest future,” he said.

    Okowa said that with the increase in the number of energy generating companies, it was important for the distribution companies to see that Nigerians were satisfied.

    He charged the host communities to maintain their peaceful dispositions and urged them not to demand so much from the company.

    The governor, however, appealed to the company, Onose TBEA Energy Limited, to meet its social corporate responsibility to its host communities.

    He said that adhering to such responsibilities would ensure that youths from the area were engaged in the construction work of the plant and were also employed when the company commences its operations.

    Earlier, the Chairman, Onose Tbea Energy, retired Gen. Alexander Ogomudia, in an address said that power was essential in the development of any nation, adding “without power, we will be wasting our time in terms of development”.

    He said that though the company was commencing operations by generating 400 MW of electricity, the target was to contribute 2,000 MW of electricity to the national grid in full operation.

    The Company’s Managing Director, Mr Jim Elueni, lauded the state governor for giving approval to the project without delay.

    “The Governor, Sen. Okowa in appreciating the importance of this project to his state, wasted no time in granting us all approvals that arrived at his desk in the pursuit of this laudable project,” Elueni said.

  • Cross River secures license for 528MW floating power plant

    The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday granted the Cross River State Government a power generation license for the construction of a 528MW floating power plant in the state.

    The license was handed over to a delegation from Cross River led by the state governor, Professor Ben Ayade in a brief ceremony at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

    The vice chairman of the commission, Mr Sanusi Garba commended Governor Ayade for providing the enabling environment for investors to invest in the state.

    “I would like to commend Governor Ayade for providing the enabling environment for investors like MGIG to invest in power generation. Cross River is endowed with lots of natural resources which enables her to play a central role in the power sector”

    Also speaking during the license issuing ceremony, Governor Ben Ayade commended NERC for its capacity and professionalism while processing the license.

    “I thank the management of NERC for its professionalism while processing this license considering that the last document in the application was submitted last year”

    Governor Ayade also used the opportunity to advocate for proper monitoring of DISCOS to ensure better service delivery.

    He said adequate supply of power is central to the industrialization policy of his administration and promised to assist NERC in carrying out its statutory functions.

    In his vote of thanks, a commissioner in the commission, Mr Dafe Akpeneye thanked Governor Ayade for his dynamism and charged state governments to assist NERC in the areas of safety and removal of buildings under high tension cables.

    According to Akpeneye, other areas his commission needs assistance include Customer enumeration, electricity theft and payment of bills.

     

  • Buhari’s govt signs Joint Development Agreement, to boost power supply

    The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has yesterday signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with key investors with the view to securing investment into the 100 MW (DC) Nova Scotia Power plant located in Dutse in the Northern Nigerian state of Jigawa.

    Signing the agreement, the stakeholders said the project has the potential to significantly contribute to the plan of the authorities of the State of Jigawa to attract USD 2 billion of investments into Jigawa and implement President Buhari’s plans to provide jobs and economic opportunities especially for the nation’s youth.

    The signing ceremony of the JDA was held in the presence of the deputy governor of Jigawa state, Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia; Borge Brende, the visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister, Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Chairman of Africa50’s Board of Directors as well as officials from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading among others.

    The JDA which was signed with Africa50, an African Infrastructure Fund sponsored by AfDB and more than 20 African States; Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Development Countries, and Scatec Solar, the deputy governor of Jigawa said, “New local power generation capacity is a key element to attract sizeable investment into the State and region, especially into new industries such as light manufacturing and agricultural processing”.

    Recently, the AfDB appointed MCB Investment Management (MCBIM), a subsidiary of MCB Capital Markets, as fund manager for its first multi-jurisdictional Fixed Income Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in Africa.

    Speaking at the ceremony, Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB and Chairman of Africa50’s Board of Directors, said “I am pleased that Africa50 is already making its first investment, which fits in squarely with our priority to light up and power Africa,” adding that “Africa50 has been created by African governments, including Nigeria, the AfDB and institutional investors to mobilize private sector for funding infrastructure projects in Africa”.

    Apart from the three equity investors, the American Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Islamic Development Bank and the AfDB are expected to be senior debt providers for the project.

    With an estimated investment of USD 150 million, a production of 200,000 MWh of electricity per year and 120,000 tons of CO2 emissions avoided annually, the stakeholders said “the Nova Scotia solar plant will help Nigeria rapidly increase its generation capacity, provide economic opportunities, fight desertification caused by climate change, and contribute to fulfilling Buhari’s commitments to develop renewable energy as part of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.