Tinubu Flags-Off NNPCL’s Gwagwalada Independent Power Project That Will Generate $800m Annually For Nigeria

… Hails NNPC’s Partnership With NIPCO On Compressed Natural Gas Project

President Bola Tinubu on Friday flagged-off the Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant Project of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The President did the ground-breaking in Abuja at an event attended by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited Mele Kyari; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Gabriel Aduda and his counterpart in the Federal Capital Territory Olusade Adesola among other top dignitaries in the private and public sectors of the economy.

The Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant Project is a 1.350MW Combined Cycle Power Plant with auxiliaries and Balance of Plant to be situated on 547 hectares of land already acquired at Gwagwalada, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The project is expected to generate between $700m and $800m annually within the first ten years of operations.

The GIPP was necessitated by the need for delivering gas towards additional power generation capacity in Nigeria. Gas supply to the Plant shall be through the Ajaokuta- Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project which is currently at its advanced stages of construction.

The GIPP’s fuel requirements will be satisfied under a long-term Gas Sales, Purchase and Aggregation Agreement with Shell Petroleum DevelopmentCompany Joint Venture (SPDC JV).

The GIPP project consists up of three power train blocks of 450MW each. Each block will include two General Electric (GE) GT13E2 gas turbine generators, two heat recovery steam generators (HRSG), one steam turbine electric generator, one direct air-cooling condenser, balance of plant equipment and a black start diesel generator.

On completion, the GIPP Project will generate an average of 10.3 million Megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity per year for sale to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).

The sales of the generated power will be through Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the NBET to distribution companies (Discos) under long-term agreements. and direct sale to major off-takers.

China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) will construct the project under a turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract.

The GIPP Project will be operated by an experienced company with proven track record under an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract. GE will be engaged for the Long- Term Service Agreement (LTSA) that will include ongoing guarantees of availability. heat rate, and output.

The Project will also benefit from improvements to the national transmission system, under Federal Government ‘s long-term plan for transmission upgrade.

Speaking at the event, Tinubu described the groundbreaking ceremony as an important tool of the nation’s infrastructure, noting that the project is very necessary and commendable for the economic growth of the country.

He said Nigeria cannot become a productive economy unless it becomes efficient with stable power supply.

According to the President, he would do all that is needed to remove every obstacles hindering the growth and development of the power sector particularly in the area of transmission and distribution networks.

He said, “The groundbreaking is highly significant to the nation, as it marks the first bold step in the administration’s concerted efforts to establish a strong viral energy sector that will drive the economy. Energy is the most important discovery for humanity in the last 1000 years, there is no life without power, so we need energy.

“During my campaign, I committed to Nigerians and promised to make the provision of stable electricity a priority of this governance. To use all available energy sources to increase power generation beyond the current power capacity of just 12,000 megawatts, to strengthen the integrity of our transmission infrastructure, and to ensure that all distribution bottlenecks will be removed.

“We cannot become a productive economy unless we become efficient. Nigeria cannot become a productive and industrialized economy, we cannot tackle poverty and create thousands of jobs, highly paying manufacturing jobs, unless we can generate and transmit reliable electricity.

“To accelerate our economic growth, we must remove every obstacle on our way to progress. That this project is taking off so early in the lifetime of this administration is to serve as a notice to the residents of Abuja and indeed, to all Nigerians as our determination to bring positive change to this nation.”

He hailed the partnership between the NNPCL and NIPCO Gas Ltd on the construction of 37 Compresses Natural Gas station across the country as an excellent project that would deliver alternative energy source for Nigerians.

The CNG project, he added, would reduce transportation cost and make life easier for Nigerians.

“The recent strategic partnership between NNPCL and NIPCO gas limited to deploy Compressed Natura Gas (CNG) stations across the country is another excellent collaboration. The landmark is to expand Nigeria’s CNG infrastructure, boost access to CNG and accelerate the adoption of a cheaper and cleaner energy fuel for buses, cars, and keke NAPEP, ” he added.

The President said his administration is equally poised to address all power value chain challenges and reduce the power-related hardship being experienced by the people.

He added, “We will continue to vigorously pursue the implementation of other low-carbon energy resolutions such as solar, hydro, wind, and biofuel for both grid and off-grid power systems.

“We will focus on rural electrocution to improve the standard of living of people in rural communities and reenergize their social economic opportunities.

“Therefore, the investment of NNPCL alongside its partners in the installation of additional 350 megawatts of this nature, will improve the energy supply to homes and businesses, catalyze economic empowerment, and ultimately improve new hope for our energetic and creative citizens.”

He hailed the visionary leadership of the NNPC under Kyari and said his administration will continue to provide the needed support for the national oil company to succeed.

“I will like to commend the efforts of NNPC, along with its partners for this initiative. I hereby urge and encourage a team that is positive to do our job.

“The three-year project must be three years. Nigerians are watching and they are anxious for all the promises made and those promises must be kept.

“I use this opportunity to encourage and salute the Ministry of Power, NERC, and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to continue to work together with NNPCL and other agencies to give Nigerians access to affordable reliable electricity, ” he added.

Also speaking at the event, Kyari said the focus of the President in ensuring energy sufficiency and security in the country will create and propel greater prosperity and bountiful harvest for Nigerians.

He said the NNPCL sees the GIPP project as an opportunity to monetise the abundant natural gas resources by expanding access to energy, support economic growth, industrialisation, and job creation across the country.

To achieve this national aspiration, Kyari said the NNPC has invested heavily in domestic gas footprint expansion projects through the delivery of the trans-Nigerian gas pipeline projects which includes the escravos project, the Lagos pipelines system, and the Ajaokuta-Kano Gas Pipelines.

He said, “This project is a giant step towards achieving NNPC’s gas and power mandate to add 5 gigawatts into the national power generation by 2024. Currently, NNPC and partners are delivering about 800MW to the national grid from Afam 6 and Okpai Phase I Terminal with a combined installed capacity of 1,100MW.

“We have also completed the Okpai Phase II project that will add an additional 330MW of power to the national grid and progressing with additional power plant projects, including those along the AKK pipeline.

“Our ambition is to create 30 power plants across the country on a small scale where transmission issues will not become a major concern. The Gwagwalada IPP is among NNPC’s flagship power project along the AKK corridor.

“This is part of the 3600MW cumulative power capacity, which includes Kaduna IPP, 900MW, and Kano IPP of 1250. They are all work in progress.

“The project will be delivered in collaboration with General Electric as the original equipment manufacturer and China Machinery and Engineering Corporation as the engineering procurement and construction contractor.

“Just as we have recently commissioned the 50MW Maiduguri emergency power plant NNPC will continue to duplicate similar viable business opportunities across the nation to enable access and affordability of energy across the country and they will all be commercial and they will cause no pain to Nigerians.

“We know that expanding access to energy will change the game. It creates a better investment climate and promotes economic growth, a win-win situation for the nation and for NNPC as a commercial energy company.”

He assured the President that NNPC Ltd as an energy company of choice is committed to alleviating energy poverty and enhancing socio-economic development of out great nation.