NNPC, partners sign 50MW Maiduguri power project pact

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has signed a contract with its partners for a 50 megawatts (MW) emergency power project for Maiduguri town in Borno State.

The town was cut off from the national grid in January after insurgents cut down transmission towers delivering bulk power. It was restored in February but another section was vandalised days after.

However, NNPC in a statement yesterday said it has signed the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract term with China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC), EPC contractor, General Electric (GE) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to provide a 50MW power plant to service the town.

At the virtual contract signing, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, said NNPC was doing this through NNPC Gas and Power Investment Company (NGPIC), its subsidiary.

He also said the plant will be fuelled by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and operate on commercial terms.

Mele noted that NNPC was raising investment in gas-fired combined cycle power plants to produce at least 5,000MW in Nigeria.

He said the single cycle will be delivered by December while the combined cycle will be ready in the first quarter of 2021.

Vice President of GE Africa & Europe, Mr. Raisin Brice, said the company was committed to working with NNPC to achieve success in the project.

President of CMEC, Mr. Fang Yanshui, said the contractors have already moved equipment to site and started work on the project ahead of the formal contract signing.