By YANGE IKYAA
A significant step has been taken towards redeeming the pledge by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to intervene in addressing the perennial electric power supply challenge in Maiduguri, with the signing of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the 50 megawatt emergency power project in the Borno State capital.
The project which is an integral part of ongoing efforts to deepen the NNPC’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, Mallam 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.
Kyari 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 5 gigawatts 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.
The 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 further that GE would be tapping into its vast experience in the country to deliver on the project. Similar support and commitment was echoed by Mr. Fang Yanshui, president of CMEC, the main EPC contractor for the project.
As a mark of confidence in the or
NNPC, the contractors had commenced movement of vital equipment to site and started work on the project ahead of the formal signing of the contract.
