Aba Power Electric Ltd, Nigeria’s latest electricity distribution company, is working towards securing additional natural gas supplies from its partners to enhance electricity delivery across nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) it services. This initiative coincides with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) commencing regular operations on the Alaoji-Aba 132kV line.
In a statement released by Ugo Opiegbe, Managing Director of Aba Power, explained that “a team of dedicated and competent TCN engineers and technicians is scheduled to service the line from December 1 to 7 to ensure regular and quality bulk power supply to the Aba Ringfenced Area managed by Aba Power, Nigeria’s 12th distribution company (DisCo).”
Opiegbe also mentioned that discussions have been ongoing with the NNPCL and Heirs Energies to secure increased gas supplies to the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant located in the Osisoma Industrial Layout, Aba. He said, “We have, therefore, been in talks with the NNPCL and Heirs Energies to increase gas supply to the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant in the Osisoma Industrial Layout in Aba to enable us to provide electricity to the people, businesses, and communities in the nine LGAs we cover, and they have pledged to do their best to give us increased gas.”
The NNPCL and Heirs Energies jointly own Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, located in the Owaza community in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State, with Heirs Energies as the operator.
According to Engineer Cliff Eneh, an electric power consultant in Lagos, the Geometric Power Plant receives gas from a 27-kilometre gas pipeline built to the OML. Eneh, who previously worked with both the Texas Power and Light Company in the United States and the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), explained, “Due to the insufficient gas supplies to the Geometric Power Plant, the electricity firm has been augmenting its own power generation with supplies from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), which uses TCN’s 133kV and 330kV lines to make them available to the Geometric Power Plant.”
Eneh went on to note that, while the one-week maintenance on the line could affect electricity supply to Aba residents and businesses, Geometric Power has proactively worked to minimize disruptions. “This is why Aba residents and businesses might be affected by the scheduled one-week maintenance work on the Line, though Geometric Power has taken proactive steps to either minimize the impact on the customers or reduce it to the barest minimum,” he said.
Commending the collaboration between Geometric Power, TCN, and NDPHC, Eneh emphasized that the impact of the planned TCN shutdown could be avoided if gas supplies to the 188MW plant were sufficient. “The planned TCN shutdown would not have any impact on the Aba Ringfence if there were sufficient gas supplies to the 188MW plant,” he said.
Eneh also highlighted that, during nationwide outages in October and November 2024, residents in the Aba Ringfence did not experience any power disruptions due to an improvement in gas supply during that period, facilitated by the NNPCL and Heirs Energies. “People in the Aba Ringfence did not experience outages when there was a series of nationwide outages in October and November 2024 because there was a significant gas supply improvement to the area during this period by the NNPCL and Heirs Energies.”
Looking ahead, Eneh believes that the plant, once fully operational with sufficient gas, would not only supply uninterrupted electricity to all nine LGAs under its coverage but also contribute to the national grid. “Not only would the plant have started to provide full and uninterrupted electricity to all the nine LGAs under its coverage since commissioning last February 26, it would have been exporting power to the national grid to increase power availability in other parts of Nigeria since it already has installed three turbines of 47MW each, with the fourth to be installed anytime the gas issue is resolved.”
“The whole nation is waiting anxiously to see the NNPCL and Heirs Energies deliver on their promise to increase natural gas supply to the Geometric Power Plant which will, in turn, provide electricity to Aba Power Electricity Ltd,” he concluded. GMTNewsng
Follow GMTNewsng on our WhatsApp channel https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VarY28K1iUxbytaMSE3q
