Uche Cecil Izuora
Aba Power, Nigeria’s newest electricity distribution company (DisCo), has resumed full electricity supply to its customers after an interruption in gas supply to its embedded power generation company (GenCo), the 188MW Geometric Power Aba Ltd in the Osisoma Industrial Layout.
Ugo Opiegbe, the Aba Power Managing Director, confirmed the restoration in a statement signed by the utility’s Senior Communication and Brand Manager, Edise Ekong.
The statement revealed that the disruption started at 2 pm on Monday, January 26, when Heirs Energies which provides gas from Operating Mining Lease (OML) 17 noticed a technical issue and “had to cease supply to resolve it immediately.
“We are pleased that the technical issue was resolved with dedication and professionalism by Heirs Energies, enabling us to resume electricity supply to nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State within the Aba Ring-fenced Area.”
The statement regretted inconveniences that its customers suffered due to unavailability of gas, noting that the company sourced electricity from the national grid to bridge the gap during this period so that electricity supply to major manufacturing firms could be sustained.
However, the entire nation was to experience a total blackout from 10 am on Tuesday, January 27, following a full system collapse.
With the Aba Power resumption of supply in the afternoon of Tuesday, according to Engineer Cliff Eneh, a former senior manager with the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) who used to work for the Texas Power and Light utility in the United States, “Aba is the only place in the whole Nigerian federation to enjoy power supply right now.
“It is no good news that there is zero allocation to the 11 DisCos in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Enugu, Yola, Benin, Kano, and Kaduna.
“The nation must find a comprehensive answer to the phenomenon of constant grid collapse. This is why I keep advocating for the embedded power plant model, which Aba Power is excelling with. It allows reasonable autonomy and nimbleness when it comes to electricity supply”.