Uche Cecil Izuora
Gas supply to the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in Aba, Abia State, has resumed three days after it was suspended due to what industry experts call a process upset and a gas leak in the associated gas gathering (AGG) facilities of a leading indigenous oil and gas company in the neighbouring Rivers State.
Gas supplies was restored to one of the 47MW turbines which started to generate 25MW, according to a mechanical engineer and power consultant, Dike Ejike.
“By 11 am hours today, it was generating 37.44MW, and by 2 pm, it had risen to 39.5MW”, said Ejike. “It is increasing gradually”.
Engr Ejike disclosed that the quantum of power made available ‘to the Aba people in nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State is now almost 65MW because Aba Power, the electricity distributing company of the Geometric Power group, still receives 25MW from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to augment available power from the Geometric Power Plant.
He explained: “More individuals, businesses, industries, non-profit organizations, and communities have been receiving supplies since the gas supply issue was resolved, and supplies have been growing”.
A power consultant who worked in the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Engr Cliff Eneh, lauded Heirs Energies, operator of the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, which produces gas supplied to Geometric Power and some other customers, for working around the clock to resolve this issue.
“The engineers and the entire technical team at Heirs Energies”, he observed, “worked tirelessly and efficiently in a way typically associated with international oil companies (IOCs) like Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Chevron, Agip, British Petroleum, etc. But Heirs Energies is a new indigenous Nigerian firm giving the nation hope”.
“They did not care that it was a weekend or the Easter holiday period, but worked with tremendous commitment and dedication to fix the problem, so that electricity customers in the Aba Ring-fenced Area would have light during this critical period”.
Engr Eneh expressed optimism that the Heirs Energies team would display the same zeal and competence in fixing gas supply issues whenever they occur.
“I am confident that Nigerian engineers will go places if given the opportunity”, he concluded.