THISDAY

NIPP Power Stations Ready to Generate 2,910MW, Says Report

- Ejiofor Alike

immediate future, it members would be forced to streamline overhead costs and their work force may be impacted.

MOMAN also appealed to the Ministry of Finance to pay authorised marketers that has been cleared by PPPRA with Sovereign Debt Notes (SDN) all outstandin­g principal sums.

MOMAN also appealled to the ministry of finance to ensure that all ancillary burdens such as interest and forex differenti­al incurred by the marketers as a results of the late payment be immediatel­y reimbursed. price and future expectatio­n to remain so, many government­s and oil companies are re-strategisi­ng to ensure its continual survival. The Nigerian Government and NNPC are also advised to follow suit. Recommenda­tions include; passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), restructur­e public finances, subsidy removal on petroleum products, focus on profitable subsidiari­es, review CAPEX spending, explore Asian markets, domestic refinery optimizati­on and deliver export and domestic gas projects.”

“However, we also believe projects in Nigeria currently exhibit low capital productivi­ty and there is much you can do in terms of right scoping, design-to-value, more effective contractor management, and lean constructi­on in order to deliver projects at lower cost,” Okon said.

NNPC in addition to requesting for such structural reforms, also canvassed that Nigeria should shift its attention to developing her natural gas resource, which currently has a discovered quantity that is in excess of 179 trillion cubic feet (TCF).

Nigeria with its gas reserves of 179TCF ranks ninth in the world and first in Africa, yet its gas production is only ranked 23rd in the world. A Status Report presented to the 31st Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) held on April 17, 2015 has revealed that power stations built under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) are ready to generate 2,910.1 megawatts of electricit­y. This, however, is subject to availabili­ty of gas to the plants, THISDAY has learnt. Vice President Namadi Sambo is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NDPHC, owners of the NIPP.

According to the Executive Summary of the report, which was obtained exclusivel­y by THISDAY, a total of 265 out of 296 injection substation­s have also been completed under the NIPP, with 13, 367 completely self-protected (CSP) transforme­rs installed nationwide.

The report listed other most recent key achievemen­ts of NIPP to include the completion of 2.1 kilometres gas pipeline from Creek Town to Ikot Nyong; inaugurati­on of the 561 megawatt-capacity Calabar Power Station Lot 1 built by Marubeni West Africa; inaugurati­on of 330KV DC Jos-Makurdi Lot 1A, which is over 250 kilometres and the inaugurati­on of Makurdi 330/132/33KV Substation Lot 1B.Others include the inaugurati­on of 132KV DC Adiabo-Calabar transmissi­on substation, among others.

In the area of power generation, the report listed six out of the 10 NIPP power plants, which are already adding power to the national grid.

These six power stations are now ready to generate 2,910 megawatts of electricit­y into the grid, subject to the availabili­ty of gas supply.

A breakdown of the generating capacities of these plants showed that the 562.5 megawatt-capacity Calabar Power Station built by Marubeni is now generating 112.5 megawatts; 451mw-capacity Ihovbor Power Plant in Edo State is now producing 225 megawatts; while the 451mwcapac­ity Sapele Power Station, also built by Marubeni currently generates 112.5mw.

Others include 450 mwcapacity Olorunsogo Power Station in Ogun State, which generates 225megawat­ts; 450 megawatt-capacity Omotosho Power Station in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State which generates 225 megawatts and 434.1mwcapacit­y Geregu Power Station in Kogi State, which generates 289.4 megawatts.

The report identified vandalism of gas pipeline as a major risk facing the NIPP plants, noting that the vandalism of the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline “has resulted in major curtailmen­t of generation at Ihovbor, Sapele, Omotosho, Olorunsogo and Geregu.” The report also disclosed that there are no committed gas supplies for Geregu and Ihovbor.

NIPP was conceived in 2004 as a major fast-track initiative to add significan­t new generation capacity to Nigeria’s electricit­y supply industry.

The generation projects are accompanie­d by supporting transmissi­on, distributi­on and gas transport infrastruc­ture projects. NIPP includes ten medium-sized gas fired power plants. Eight of these power plants were initially designed as open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) power plants while the remaining two were designed as combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants.

Seven of the OCGT plants have the capacity to be expanded to combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) configurat­ion.

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