Four power plants begin operations in two months

About four power generation plants that are capable of adding 1,262MW of electricity to the power grid are primed to commence operations in the next two months, operators of the facilities have disclosed.

It was gathered that three of the plants, under the National Integrated Power Projects currently being managed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, would be fired up in a couple of weeks as all impediments hampering their completion had been removed.

Senior management officials of the power plants told our correspondent that the 225 megawatts Gbarain plant, 572MW steam-fired Alaoji plant, 225MW Omoku plant, and 240MW Afam III Fast plant were almost set to start contributing to the grid.

The NDPHC manages the Gbarain, Omoku and Alaoji power plants, while the Afam Power Plc operates the Afam III Fast Power plant.

The Executive Director, Engineering and Technical Services, NDPHC, Ifeoluwa Oyedele, stated that in a couple of months, beginning from April, the remaining power plants being handled by his company would be completed and fired up.

He said, “The NDPHC has increased the generation and distribution capacities in the power sector by almost 60 per cent on the average. Today, we have 10 power plants, eight and half are in operation and the remaining one and half will come on stream within the next few months. This means that today we can add 4,000MW to the generation capacity of Nigeria if we have gas and if the transmission network can wheel such power.

“In the distribution sector, we have also increased the capacity to distribute across the length and breadth of Nigeria by between 60 and 75 per cent. I know that we built almost 293 injection stations across the country and I’m talking about 7.5MVA and 15MVA stations, and we are still doing more.”

He added, “We expect the second turbine in Gbarain to be fired any moment from now. We expect the steam turbine cycle in Alaoji to be fired any moment from now. We expect Omoku power plant to be completed any moment from now. These are ongoing projects and we have totally removed all of the issues blocking the completion of these projects.

“That is why I said in the next few months, beginning from April, we will see the total completion of the remaining aspects of the power plants. For specifics, the second turbine in Gbarain will be fired in the next two months.”

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Afam Power Plc, Olumide Obademi, recently announced that the $186m Afam III Fast Power project would be ready for inauguration this month.

According to him, construction work on the plant, which targets to add 240MW of electricity to the country’s power grid, is in its final stage, as he noted that the Afam III Fast Power was made up of eight turbines.

He explained that each of the turbines had a capacity of 30MW and put their cumulative capacity at 240MW, adding that the project, which is located on the premises of Afam Power Plc in Rivers State, would provide electricity for about 1.5 million households across the country.

Obademi said, “By January 2017, the civil work commenced in preparation for the arrival of eight GE TM 2500 turbines and its auxiliaries with a total capacity of 240MW each. Before the end of 2017, all the eight turbines and the auxiliaries arrived site. Installation and assembling commenced immediately.

“Presently, the installation of the turbines and generators has been completed, while the installation of the auxiliaries is in progress and about 90 per cent completed. Similarly, the job on the 132KV switchyard for power evacuation is nearly completed.”