AdminGas supply to the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in Aba, Abia State, has resumed three days after it was suspended.
The suspension was due to what industry experts called a process upset and a gas leak in the associated gas gathering (AGG) facilities of a leading indigenous oil and gas company in the neighbouring Rivers State.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelGas supplies resumed Monday night, and by 9:02 pm, one of the 47MW turbines had started to generate 25MW, according to Dike Ejike, a mechanical engineer and power consultant, who confirmed the development.
“By 11 am today, it was generating 37.44MW, and by 2 pm, it had risen to 39.5MW”, said Ejike. “It is increasing gradually”.
The power consultant disclosed that the quantum of power made available to Aba people in nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State is now almost 65MW because Aba Power, the electricity distributing company of the Geometric Power group, still receives 25MW from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to augment available power from the Geometric Power Plant.
He explained: “More individuals, businesses, industries, non-profit organisations, and communities have been receiving supplies since the gas supply issue was resolved, and supplies have been growing.”
A Lagos-based power consultant who was a top executive with the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Engr Cliff Eneh, applauded Heirs Energies, operator of the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, which produces gas supplied to Geometric Power and some other customers, for working around the clock to resolve this issue.
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“The engineers and the entire technical team at Heirs Energies”, he observed, “worked tirelessly and efficiently in a way typically associated with international oil companies (IOCs) like Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Chevron, Agip, British Petroleum, etc. But Heirs Energies is a new indigenous Nigerian firm giving the nation hope.”
“They did not care that it was a weekend or the Easter holiday period, but worked with tremendous commitment and dedication to fix the problem, so that electricity customers in the Aba Ring-fenced Area would have light during this critical period.”
Engr Eneh expressed optimism that the Heirs Energies team would display the same zeal and competence in fixing gas supply issues whenever they occur.
“I am confident that Nigerian engineers will go places if given the opportunity,” he concluded.
