Rockson, GE to construct 215MW power plant in Kaduna
By Yemie Adeoye
THE Ministry of Power has signed a contract for the construction of a Dual Thermal Plant using Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and Natural Gas, to be located in Kaduna, with General Electric and Rockson Engineering Nigeria Ltd Consortium.
This is coming just as the federal government also announces a major boost in the generation capacity for the country which edges the country closer to the targeted 6000Mw by this month of December.
The Minister of Power, Dr. Lanre Babalola while signing the Contract Agreement for the 215MW Kaduna Dual Thermal Power Plant Project using Low Pour Fuel Oil [LPFO]/Natural Gas in Abuja recently described the event as a milestone for the Nation’s power sector. He further stated that the Plant will complement other Hydro Power Plants in the Northern part of the country and also go a long way in reducing challenges being faced in the power industry.
Also, the Minister who observed that the breakthrough was commercially challenging, called on the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to make concerted efforts towards ensuring adequate gas supply. He commended the competence of Rockson Engineering Ltd and urged them to bring it to bear on the project which was the 1st Power Plant to be built initially by this Administration to ensure success.
On the increase in generation capacity the Minister stated that Nigeria now has an available capacity to generate 5,000MW of electricity as it moves closer to attaining the Presidential target of 6,000Mw by the end of this year.
Dr. Lanre Babalola further said that the proposed 6000MW short term goal was actually realizable as the sector already boasts of an installed generation capacity of 8,634Mw. He however said that the actual generation capacity still hovered at about 3000Mw due to challenges in sourcing adequate gas to power the generating plants.
According to him the Ministry was actually collaborating with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), and International Oil Companies (IOC’s) to proffer solution to the problem of inadequate gas supply.
He Further said that the sector had already recorded impressive progress in the area of transmission and distribution with 647MW transmission capacity already added to the existing 4,000MW adding that this capacity will appreciate to 6,683MW in December.
“In the area of distribution the sector had also recorded major achievement with line replacement of a total of 750MVA and reinforcement of 383.5MVA at the injection Substation and 590.71MVA at the distribution Substation.
Other major achievements of the Ministry however includes the approval of the Multi-Year-Tariff Order [MYTO] and the market rules in April 2008, and the approval of N177.95 to subsidize cost of providing electricity to Nigerian over a three year period.
Completion of a National Demand Study and System Planning in February 2009 which for the first time estimated electricity requirement to 5,000 and 5,500MW. securitization of payments under the power purchase agreement( PPA), Development of framework for generation diversification/ capacity utilization, commercial framework for gas to power†Dr. Babalola stressed the importance of power as the catalyst for economic development and indeed the nucleus for the attainment of the present administration’s 7 Point Agenda and the Vision 2020.
The Hon. Minister gave the assurance that given the high level of Federal Government commitment and support (financial and otherwise), Nigerians should expect a substantial improvement in power supply.
Earlier, the Sales Manager, General Electric Oil & Gas, Mr. Victor Ekpeyong stated that the scope of work includes the manufacture and supply of eight (8) General Electric Frame 5 Dual Fuel Gas Turbines in Florence, Italy and shipment to Nigeria as well as the Design, Engineering, Procurement of the Balance of the Plant; Installation, Construction, Testing and coming of the whole project.
He commended the Ministry for the opportunity given them to demonstrate their capabilities and gave the assurance that the consortium is committed to seeing to the successful completion of the project. The 215MW Plant is part of the Federal Government’s effort to ensure flexibility in the nation’s power stations and thereby reduce the heavy dependence on gas.
