Geometric Power has criticized the severe shortage of natural gas supply to its 188-megawatt plant in the Osisioma Industrial Estate, Aba, Abia State, stating that it is hindering the state’s economic growth.
Ugo Opiegbe, Managing Director of Aba Power, Geometric Power’s embedded firm, revealed this in a statement on Thursday.
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“Due to the grave shortage of gas, we have been constrained to import 25megawatts from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) at a huge cost, just to ensure that our customers have supplies, no matter the cost to us,” Opiegbe said.
“It is a supreme irony that though we are ready to generate 141MW from our three General Electric (GE) turbines and provide uninterrupted, quality and affordable electricity to nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State, we service and export some 50MW potential excess power to the national grid to make power more available to other places in Nigeria, we are importing electricity because of the grave gas constraints”.
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The company noted that the Aba Ringfence requires about 90MW, which it can generate using two of its three installed turbines, each with a capacity of 47MW.
“Therefore, the 25MW from the NDPHC is like a drop of water in the ocean.
“The unreliable gas supply is affecting hundreds of thousands of our customers, particularly manufacturing firms for whose sake Geometric Power built the $800m Aba Integrated Power Project to accelerate the industrial development of Aba and its environs and serve as a model of electricity development in Nigeria, a promising nation whose growth has been hampered seriously over the decades by the absence of such basic infrastructure as reliable power”.
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The Aba Power Integrated Project was inaugurated last February by Vice President Kashim Shettima on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.
According to a statement, Ogbonna Chukwueke, a former Shell executive and gas expert, mentioned that Geometric Power had signed an agreement with The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in 2009 to supply 43 million standard cubic feet (MSCF) of gas from Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) 11 and 17 in Owaza, Abia State, to fuel its four turbines, each with a 47MW capacity.
However, following Shell’s withdrawal from Nigeria’s onshore and shallow offshore operations due to oil theft, vandalism, community conflicts, and kidnappings, the OMLs were transferred to local operators.
These operators have been unable to deliver more than 10 million SCF daily to the plant.
Geometric Power stated it is working urgently to address the gas supply issue and appreciates the efforts of Vice President Shettima, Abia State Governor Alex Otti, Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu, and NNPC Group Managing Director Mele Kyari in helping to secure a more reliable gas supply for the plant.
“From the look of things, we should be able to overcome the gas shortage within a month,” the company assured.
