The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) has successfully restored additional 450 Megawatts (MW) of generation capacity to the national grid.
Mr Emmanuel Ojor, Head, Corporate Communications and External Relations, NDPHC made this known in a statement in Abuja on Monday.
According to him, the restoration of the additional megawatts followed the completion of scheduled maintenance on the Geregu NIPP plant in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.
Ojor said that the four-week extended minor inspection, undertaken by Siemens Energy, was executed to enhance the facility’s operational reliability, performance, and efficiency, thereby extending the plant’s Equivalent Operating Hours (EOH) and operational life span.
According to him, the Managing Director of NDPHC, Jennifer Adighije, confirmed that in the last one year the company had recovered six previously dormant gas turbines across its fleet of gas turbines.
Adighije listed the turbines to include GT4 at the Calabar NIPP, GT1 at Omotosho II, GT1 and GT2 at Benin NIPP, GT4 at Sapele NIPP.
“And currently GT3 and GT4 at Alaoji NIPP on standby for pre-commissioning after gas supply remedial works.
“These restored units collectively would have cumulative 875MW additional capacity to NDPHC’s mechanical available generation; adding significant boost to national power generation capacity,” she said.
Adighije also announced the commencement of restoration works on the 225MW Gbarain NIPP plant in Bayelsa State, which has been out of service since 2020.
She described the restoration works as a major step toward recovering dormant national power in a bid to commercialise the output of the plant to serve critical commercial and industrial clusters within the Niger Delta region.
“In spite of persistent sector-wide challenges, NDPHC has recorded several operational and financial milestones.
“These include: Recovery of 110 containers with critical turbine parts and HRSG components, abandoned at Onne Port for over nine years.
“Commencement of the Light Up Nigeria – Agbara industrial cluster project to connect the Agbara Industrial Estate to the grid and a 10MW embedded solar project for an industrial area in Kano.
“Completion of key transmission and distribution projects in Borno and Delta States, as well as the completion of Afam–Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line,” she said.
Ms Adighije also listed other success stories of NDPHC to include recovery of over 10 million dollars in legacy debts from bilateral customers, securing 15 million dollars in insurance claims for the Alaoji plant fire incident.
“Advanced engagements with Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) on recovering NDPHC’s investments in TCN’s transmission expansion projects, resolution of longstanding commercial issues with ACCUGAS, leading to an amendment of gas supply agreement which reduces government’s exposure,” she said.
Ms Adighije also said that to strengthen accountability and staff welfare, the management of NDPHC has introduced a procurement benchmarking desk for streamlining procurement practices, Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for enhanced staff performance management.
She said that a management support allowance to cushion the impacts of fuel subsidy removal was also introduced.
Ms Adighije, however, reaffirmed NDPHC’s commitment to “restoring dormant capacity, stabilising operations, and supporting Nigeria’s goal of a more reliable and sustainable power supply value chain.
She also that NDPHC’s management remains committed to transparency, accountability and constructive engagement with stakeholders in its quest for unlocking universal access to electricity for powering businesses and households across the country.
NAN