Olusola Bello
A significant step towards redeeming the pledge by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to intervene in the perennial electric power supply challenge in Maiduguri, Borno State, was taken Tuesday with the execution of the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) and Equipment Procurement contracts for a 50Megawatts (MW) Emergency Power Project in Maiduguri.
The project which is an integral part of ongoing efforts to deepen the Corporation’s domestic gas utilization plan for the nation’s socio-economic growth has China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC) as the EPC contractor while General Electric (GE) is the equipment manufacturer.
Speaking at the contract signing event which held virtually, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, explained that the Corporation through its subsidiary, NNPC Gas and Power Investment Company (NGPIC), decided to intervene in the Maiduguri power situation by undertaking the project which will be fired with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and run commercially.
He said NNPC, as a state-owned oil company and enabler organization, was determined to boost power generation and supply to Nigerian homes through increased investment in gas-fired combined cycle power plants to produce at least 5Gigawatts (GW) additional power for the country.
“NNPC is therefore seeking the cooperation of all stakeholders, especially GE and CMEC. to ensure timely delivery of the single cycle by December 2021 and the combined cycle by first quarter of 2022,” he said.
Vice President of GE Africa & Europe, Mr. Raisin Brice, said the company was committed to working with NNPC to achieve success in the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project, noting that GE would be tapping into its vast experience in the country to deliver on the project.
Similar support and commitment were echoed by Fang Yanshui, President of CMEC, the main EPC contractor for the project.
As a mark of confidence in the Corporation, the contractors had commenced movement of vital equipment to site and started work on the project ahead of the formal signing of the contract.