Electricity generation in the country is on the verge of receiving a boost as Geometric Power Plant in Aba, Abia State, is set to add 188 megawatts (MW) to the national grid in the next two months.
The Group Chairman, Geometric Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, who is also a former Minister of Power, disclosed this in a statement, saying the plant would start operations with one of its four General Electric brand turbines.
He added that the second would come on stream once the performance of the first turbine is declared satisfactory by the team of engineers led by KSE Energy of Turkey and a former Executive Director of the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Ben Caven, reputed to be the only person to have run the generation, engineering and transmission divisions of the Authority before it was privatised.
Nnaji said: “The generation of electricity from the Geometric Power plant will be a game changer in the socio-economic development of not just Aba city but nine out of the 17 local councils in Abia State serviced by Aba Power, a member of Geometric group.
“We have completed the building of four new power substations and refurbishing three substations inherited from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), in addition to providing thousands of kilometres of cables and wires, as well as world-class tubular poles available in only highly industrialised cities such as Tokyo in Japan and San Francisco in California.
“All that remains now is to provide fuel or gas to the Geometric Power plant through the 27-kilometre gas pipeline from Owaza in Ukwa West Local Council in Abia State to the Osisioma Industrial Layout on the Aba outskirts.
“Oilserv, Nigeria’s foremost indigenous gas pipeline builder, is doing a good job.”
Nnaji disclosed that though work has been completed on the seven substations, the power infrastructure would be put to use only when the Geometric Power plant becomes operational.
The plant commissioning, he added, would bring about a dramatic improvement in not only power supply but also its quality.
The Aba Integrated Power Project, he noted, is the only electricity company in Nigeria that generates and also distributes power.
He disclosed that he chose to cite Geometric Power to catalyse Aba’s development as the headquarters of indigenous technology and manufacturing, noting that with constant, quality and affordable electricity, the cost of doing business in Abia State will reduce significantly which will, in turn, impact on the national economy.
