From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Aba Integrated Power Project (Aba IPP) owed by Geometric Power (GP) would begin power generation in July, as it has finally taken over the Aba Ring Fence from Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
In line with this, GP which is the first privately owned company to achieve that feat in Nigeria, has established two Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for generation and supply of electricity.
While Geometric Power Aba Limited (GPAL) is handling generation of power, APL Electric Company Limited (APLE), is responsible for the distribution of electricity that has already began, temporarily making use of existing facilities on ground.
Disclosing these to journalists after a meeting with stakeholders in Aba, Chairman of Geometric Power, Prof Barth Nnaji said the company would in it’s first phase generate 188MW and 500MW in her second phase.
Narrating why the plant which he said is the 12th Disco in Nigeria had not taken off after over nine years of its completion, Nnaji said the government at the time sold their concession to another company.
He said despite the fact that Geometric went to court and won, the company refused to obey the court order.
Prof Nnaji said however, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration mediated and the issue was at long last resolved.
He contended that before the logjam, GP had spent over $500m in building the power plant, including a 27 kilometer gas pipeline from the company’s site at Osisioma, to a Shell exploration facility at Owaza.
Nnaji assured that now the contentious issue had been resolved, the company was poised to give residents of the city all year round uninterrupted power supply.
“When we came to Aba, we had only three sub-stations which could only deliver 80MW, but now, we have additional sub-stations at Osisioma, Ogbor Hill, Factory Road and Port Harcourt Road.
“Aba IPP is the only one in the country that is embedded with power plant that can produce 188MW of electricity, while the whole of the South East at present gets less than 300MW, with Aba getting about 64MW”.
Nnaji assured that soon, Aba will be the first city in Nigeria to have uninterrupted power supply and urged residents to cooperate with the company for better services.
Managing Director of distribution and supply of Geometric, Patrick Umeh said the company is the only one in the country that is 100 percent privately owned; and that can generate and distribute power.
He stated that with the power plant now on stream, moribund companies would come back to life, thereby reducing unemployment and crime rate.
He urged customers to continue to pay their electric bills to EEDC until Geometric gets its own billing system.
Managing Director, Generation of the company, Ben Caven who took journalists round the facility said the Aba Ring Fence covers nine local government areas of Abia State.
He assured those who would pay for pre-paid meters, that the company would repay them with energy supply within 36 months.
Agatha Nnaji, the overall managing directors of the company said the Aba IPP is the ingredient that will propel the people to be what they’re noted for.
“There’s no way Aba cannot be number one in Nigeria if all agree. Let’s leave politics alone and think of how to empower our people through reliable power supply”, she said.