NIPPs: Dashed Hopes and Unfulfilled Promises
High hopes that the completion of 10 power stations under the National Integrated Power Project would help solve Nigeria’s perennial electricity problems have again been dashed owing to defaults on project completion, the lackadaisical attitude of project
The National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) was designed by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004 as “a major fast-track initiative to add significant new generation capacity to Nigeria’s electricity supply system.”
Projects under the NIPP include 10 mediumsized gas-fired power plants, with eight initially designed as an open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) and two as combined-cycle power plants. Each of the seven out of the eight OCGT plants has the capacity to be expanded to combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) configuration.
The 10 power stations have a combined designed capacity of 5,443 megawatts with actual generation capacity of 4,774 megawatts.
To evacuate the power to be generated from the power plants, about 1,737 circuit kilometres of 330Kv lines and 940kilometres of 132Kv lines were constructed as part of the transmission projects under the NIPP.
These transmission projects, which were split into 105 separate projects, include 40 transmission lines, 45 transmission sub-stations, 20 sub-station extensions and telecommunication protection infrastructures to cover all NIPP power plants and transmission lots
There are also completed NIPP distribution projects in all the 11 Distribution Companies unbundled from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
Some of the distribution projects include 1,701 kilometres of 33Kv lines; 2,666km of 11Kv lines and 3,540MVA additional injection capacity.
Over 22,598No. 25Kv and 50Kv distribution transformers, including Completely Self-Protected (CSP) transformers were also provided for the distribution companies as part of the NIPP.
To ensure that gas is supplied to fire the turbines, the 10 NIPP plants are also accompanied by supporting gas transport infrastructure projects. Projects behind schedule It is increasingly obvious that the contractors handling most of the 10 power plants under the NIPP have demonstrated lack of capacity to complete the projects on schedule.
Despite the threats by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), owners of the NIPP to sanction errant contractors, no contractor handling the power stations is known to have been sanctioned.
There was an allegation that some top members of the board of the NDPHC have interest in some of the companies executing generation, transmission and distribution projects under the NIPP, thus weakening the capacity of NDPHC to sanction such contractors.
According to the time-table for the completion of the power projects, which was obtained by THISDAY, Alaoji Power Plant in Abia State which is being built by Rockson Engineering ought to have been completed in May 2014, when the steam turbines were supposed to be on the grid.
By this arrangement, the gas turbines were scheduled to be completed by December 2013 and put on the national grid.
Alaoji has four gas turbines – General Electric (GE) Frame 9E gas turbines and two steam turbines, with a combined capacity of 1,131.4megawatts.
A design capacity of 831.3 megawatts and actual generation capacity of 706 megawatts were also anticipated by the date of the proposed sale of the power station.
THISDAY gathered that though the gas turbines have been technically completed but the steam turbines are yet to be completed.
The 451megawatt capacity Ihovbor Power Plant in Edo State, which is being constructed by Marubeni Engineering West Africa Limited has four gas turbines and ought to have been completed by August 2013, according to the time table.
But the open cycle gas turbine power plant built to accommodate future conversion to combined cycle gas turbine configuration, is yet to be put on the grid exactly 18 months after the plant ought to have been completed.
The time-table also showed that the 562mw capacity Calabar Power Station, which is also being constructed by Marubeni Engineering West Africa Limited, ought to have been completed by May 2014.
The Calabar power plant is also an open cycle gas turbine plant built to accommodate conversion to Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) configuration in the future.
The plant is yet to be completed after nine months that it was supposed to have been completed.
The 338mw-capacity Egbema Power Station, near Owerri in Imo State, which is also being constructed by Rockson Engineering Limited, ought to have been completed in December 2013, according to the time table.
The three gas unit-capacity Egbema plant being built near Owerri, is designed to accommodate three additional gas turbines and future conversion to combined cycle gas turbine configuration.
However, the plant is already 14 months behind schedule and it is not clear when it will be inaugurated.
Of all the 10 power plants under the NIPP, the Gbarain Ubie Power Station in Bayelsa State, suffers the worst delay as the contractor, Rockson Engineering Limited was said to have initially faced site-related challenges.
When other contractors were building their plants, which are all located on a good terrain, Rockson was said to have spent several months on sand-filling the Gbarain Ubie site, because the area was four meters below sea level.
Today, the 253.8mw-capacity plant, near Yenegoa, which ought to have been completed in November 2013, is yet to be completed.
Gbarain-Ubie, which is the only NIPP plant that will not face the challenge of inadequate gas supply because of a nearby gas project by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), is an open cycle gas turbine power plant built to accommodate future conversion to combined cycle gas turbine configuration.
The Omoku II Power Plant being built by Rockson Engineering Limited, with a capacity of 225mw, near Port Harcourt, ought to have been completed by December 2013.
Omoku II is also designed to accommodate two additional gas turbines and future conversion to combined cycle gas turbine plant.
The 434mw-capacity Geregu II Power Plant located at Ajaokuta in Kogi State, has three gas turbines – Siemens V94.2 Gas Turbines, with Siemens Nigeria Limited as the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractor.
Inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan on October 3, 2013, the plant was the first NIPP plant to be completed.
The German firm had earlier completed the first Geregu plant of the same generating capacity for the PHCN.
All the units in the Sapele II Power Station, otherwise called Ogorode Power Plant, which has a capacity of 451 megawatts have also been put on the national grid but the project is yet to be officially inaugurated.
The plant was built by Marubeni Engineering West Africa Limited in Sapele, Delta State.
All the units in the 451mw-capacity Omotosho II Power Station built by China Machinery Engineering Corporation at Okitipupa in Ondo State have also been completed and the plant officially inaugurated by President Jonathan on October 19, 2013, exactly 16 days after Geregu was inaugurated.
Also all the units in the 676mw capacity Olorunsogo Power Station built by Kepco III Electric Power Construction Corporation of China in Ogun State have been put on the grid.
The Olorunsogo plant, which is a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine with four gas turbines and two steam turbines was in February 2015 inaugurated by President Jonathan.
So, of all the 10 NIPP plants, three – Geregu, Omotoso and Olorunsogo have been completed and officially inaugurated, while Sapele II has been completed and is awaiting official inauguration.
But the Chairman of the NIPP contractors under the aegis of the National Electric Power Foundation, Mr. Otis Anyaeji told THISDAY that apart from Gbarain Ubie project, most of the other projects have “technically been completed,” and were being test-run in preparation for their official inauguration. Protracted privatisation With some of the projects uncompleted, court action stalling the sale of three plants, and shortage of gas to test-run completed projects, the privatisation is over one year behind schedule and it is still unclear when the process will be completed.
The federal government had in June 2013 kicked off the process of privatising the 10 power plants with a road show held in Lagos.
The road show also extended to the other European and American cities, including United Kingdom and Hong Kong, later in the year.