A gas leak and a process upset at the Associated Gas Gathering (AGG) facilities near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have significantly disrupted electricity supply in the Aba Ring-fenced Area, which covers nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State.
Sources familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the press, revealed that the incidents occurred at the AGG installations in Obigbo and Agbada, both located on the outskirts of the Rivers State capital.
“The incidents are at Obigbo near Port Harcourt and at Agbada which is between Port Harcourt city and the airport,” stated one of the sources, an engineer with the NNPC Marketing Limited (NGML). He further explained that while the process upset at Obigbo had been identified earlier, “it does not seem as serious as that of Agbada.”
Engineer Vincent Chukwueke, a seasoned gas expert and former top executive at The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), said that the incidents likely prompted Heirs Energies, the operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, to suspend gas supply for safety reasons. The affected gas feeds the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout, Abia State, which supplies electricity to Aba Power for distribution across the Aba Ring-fenced Area.
“It had to suspend gas supplies so as to quickly resolve the issues at the AGGs,” Chukwueke said on Saturday.
Speaking with our correspondent by phone, Aba Power Managing Director, Ugo Opiegbe, confirmed that the company “has been constrained to make do with only 25MW from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) since yesterday when the supply from the embedded power plant was ceased.”
“The supply from the NDPHC is a fraction of what we can generate from our three turbines, as each produces 47MW,” he added.
While regretting that the electricity shortfall occurred during the Easter holidays, Opiegbe assured residents that efforts were underway to restore full supply soon.
“We are taking every step necessary to restore full supplies between today and tomorrow, so that our people can continue to enjoy the long holidays,” he said.
