Why National Grid Collapse Did Not Affect Aba Power Ringfence

While many parts of Nigeria were thrown into blackout at the weekend, due to the national grid collapse, nine local government areas in Abia State serviced by Aba Power were not affected.

This is because Geometric Power Group, the owner of Aba Power, Nigeria’s 12th electricity distribution firm, generates and distributes electricity to Aba residents without going through the national transmission network.

Aba Power Managing Director, Ugo Opiegbe, said Aba Power’s coverage area was not affected by the grid collapse because of its integrated power model.

Prime Business Africa reports that the national grid experienced collapse three times in one week. 

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced on Saturday that it has been restored. TCN engineers said the latest grid collapse was caused by an explosion in the transmission network.

Aba Power has an embedded generation model because it has a power plant dedicated to providing it with electricity.

“This is the model the country should adopt to develop a competitive electric power sector”, declared Ejike Dike, a mechanical engineer and business consultant.
“Every off-grid project doesn’t have to be as big as the Aba Power project which cost about $800m, making it the largest investment in the Southeast.”

Ejike said Geometric Power is the only electricity firm with this model in the country, explaining that though the Sahara Energy Group has both the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company and the Egbin Power Plant in Ikorodu in Lagos, the power it generates is not dedicated to a particular area but sent to the national grid.

The engineer observed that the nation “can follow the Geometric Power model by reviving and completing abandoned small hydro projects scattered all over Nigeria and from solar energy to enable communities without access to power enjoy electricity.”

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President general of the 22,000-strong Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association (ALPALDA),Chief Udeigbo said:  “It is good news that supplies to the Aba Ringfence have continued unabated and supplies continue to improve.

“We still need more improvements and the earlier the improvements take place the better for all stakeholders in Aba and the environs.”

The Association of Aba Industrialists president, Sir Alex Maduakor, while commending Geometric Power for its “humongous investments in the Aba Power Project,” advised that the company should “do everything within its power to ensure that Aba, as Nigeria’s foremost Indigenous manufacturing city, will have constant and regular power which will, in turn, have immense beneficial effects on the national economy.

“Manufacturers are going through challenging moments in the country and they need every support, starting with infrastructural support like constant electricity supply.”