THE recent improvement in power supply in Nigeria is being driven by sustained generation of 1,100 megawatts, MW, from Egbin Power Plc, which produces one-third of the total power generated in the country, according to News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

File: A major power grid

Egbin’s current generation capacity which hit the 1,100MW mark in July, is attributed to the continued investment and revamp of the plant by its new owners, the Sahara Power Group and Korea Electric Power Corporation, KEPCO.

Prior to the privatisation of the plant in November 2013, Egbin average generation was below 500MW due to the poor state of its six turbine units, with only two in operation.

According to Chief Executive Officer, Egbin Power Plc, Mr Dallas Peavey, the transformation in Egbin, located in Ikorodu, Lagos, commenced after its acquisition by Kepco Energy Resource Limited, KERL, in collaboration with its technical partners, KEPCO.

Technicalpartners

He said: “Through the injection of close to N50 billion in new capital into Egbin post privatisation, the Sahara Power/KEPCO partnership has brought to the power plant, an unprecedented level of innovation, professionalism, human capital development and continuing investment in new technology.

“The control room panels, installed at the plant’s inception have been removed and upgraded to state of the art digital panels.

“The highlight of the main plant rehabilitation occurred in the first quarter of 2015, when the company successfully rehabilitated ST Unit 6, bringing an additional 220MW to the national grid and restoring the power plant to its installed capacity of 1,320MW.”

With these developments, Egbin Power is now equipped to generate power at its installed 1,320MW capacity, whilst the company is exploring expansion in power generation in a few years to 2670MW and possibly 10000MW in the next decade, if gas supply, transmission expansion and demand permits.

Peavey explained that Egbin’s new management has initiated a clear roadmap for consistent retooling and re-positioning of the company to conform to the latest technology and ensure optimal performance.