Aba Power Electric Limited said it aims to obtain more natural gas supplies from its partners to increase electricity to nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State.
The demand becomes imperative as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) commences regular maintenance of the critical Alaoji-Aba 132kv line.
Ugo Opiegbe,the Managing Xirector of Aba Power, made this known in a press release.
“A team of dedicated and competent TCN engineers and technicians is scheduled to service the line from December 1 to 7 to ensure regular and quality bulk power supply to the Aba Ringfenced Area managed by Aba Power, Nigeria’s 12th distribution company (DisCo).
“We have, therefore, been in talks with the NNPCL and Heirs Energies to increase gas supply to the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant in the Osisoma Industrial Layout in Aba to enable us to provide electricity to the people, businesses, and communities in the nine LGAs we cover, and they have pledged to do their best to give us increased gas”.
Geometric Power gets its gas from the 27-kilometre gas pipeline it built to the OML, according to Engineer Cliff Eneh, an electric power consultant in Lagos who used to work for both the Texas Power and Light company in the United States and the defunct National Electric Power of Nigeria (NEPA).
“Due to the insufficient gas supplies to the Geometric Power Plant”, Eneh told journalists today, “the electricity firm has been augmenting its own power generation with supplies from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) which uses TCN’s 133kv and 330kv lines to make them available to the Geometric Power Plant.