The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, on Thursday handed over to the Akwa Ibom State government the amended licence for the establishment of 685 megawatts-capacity Ibom Power Plant.
The new license empowers the state government,
promoters of the project, to increase its electricity generation capacity from the previous 190MW to 685 MW.
promoters of the project, to increase its electricity generation capacity from the previous 190MW to 685 MW.
The license was received by the state governor, Emmanuel Udom, on behalf of the company’s management.
The governor praised NERC for the speed with which the application was processed and approved to enable his administration proceed with ambition of increasing the electricity generation capacity of the plant.
“Ibom Power is one of the first independent power projects in the country. This achievement did not come as an accident. It was because the previous administrations in the state invested heavily in this sector,” Mr. Emmanuel said.
He said the project was not a power plant that would experience any gas supply challenge in its operations, as the state government had already set up a gas processing plant supplying gas to the adjoining power plants.
The governor said the state government would soon apply for an embedded power generation licence that would supply power to industrial estates to be established along the state’s coastal line.
While appealing to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, for improved power transmission network ahead of the completion of the expanded power plant, the governor said the state government has so far invested $22million on transmission networks.
He said the facility would be a wasted investment if there would be no corresponding investment in the transmission line by TCN, to evacuate the generated power.
NERC Chairman, Sam Amadi, said the agency was very strict about the licensing procedures, saying the presence of the state governor and the management of Ibom Power Plant was an indication that those conditions were fulfilled.
“Akwa Ibom is not new to the process. They have done this before and they have shown they are equal to the task.
“Akwa Ibom is a front runner in this respect and they have shown good example of public-private partnership. We would give you all necessary assistance to achieve this,” Mr. Amadi said.
The commission, he said, expects more investments in the power sector from the state.
Ibom Power is a gas-fired power plant licensed on May 12, 2008 to operate a 190 MW electricity generation plant.
On December 19, 2014, the company submitted an application to amend its operational licence to 685MW. The application was approved on October 27, 2015.
During the license presentation ceremony in Abuja, NERC commissioner for Legal, Licensing and Enforcement, Steven Andzenge, said the commission had so far issued about 126 licences.
He said the 126 licences had a combined generation capacity of 35, 314MW of on-grid; 428.12MW off-grid and 298 MW embedded power generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment