IPC to support FG to meet Nigerians electricity needs

Ini Billie Uyo

The Energy Commission of Nigeria has said Ibom Power Company supports the desire of the Federal Government to meet the electricity needs of the country.

Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Commission of Nigeria, Prof. Eli Jidere Bala who commended the establishment of Ibom Power Company by the Akwa Ibom State Government, said the plant was a model for other states to emulate.

Speaking on Thursday in Uyo after a tour of the Ibom Power plant with some management team in Ikot Abasi local government area, Prof Bala mentioned that the people manning the plant are all Nigerians.

He stated that the local capacity and indigenous capacity seen in Ibom Power Company was good, adding that there was room for expansion in the phase two of the project.

“The concept of Ibom Power is a very good vision by the Akwa Ibom State Government and it supports the Federal Government’s desire to meet the electricity demands of the country.

“We are also encouraged that the state government has gotten a distribution license that would provide a synergy between the production company and generating company all owned by the state government so that they can make the needs of the state and export the excess, they have the capacity.

“We commend the state government for taking that initiative and I think they would provide a model for other states to emulate.

“Indeed, if states could generate and meet their needs and excesses are interchanged through the natural grid, perhaps it would be our ultimate model,” he stated.

The DG explained that its visit to the company was in line with its mandate of

strategic planning and coordination of national policies as well as monitoring the performance of the energy sector in the execution of government policies in the field of energy according to the ECN Act, E10, LFN (2004).

He called for a freer market so that available power can be sold, adding that the tour has revealed that a favourable market was needed as the distribution company were rejecting power supplied, as such the powerr generated is not being utilized.

While speaking, Manager, Ibom Power Plant, Mr Aniefiok Sunday said the plant has been operating in the past 10 years without any fatality.

He however mentioned that generating power without being able to distribute the power was a problem, adding that it was affecting the smooth operations of the plant.

“We have been running Ibom Power plant for the past 10 years without any fatality.

The main challenge that we have in operations is the transmission line.

“Most times, several trips that we have is through transmission line, either the Alogi line cut conductor by Itu line or Uyo-Itu. Each trip that we have is equivalent to 10 normal shut down and this is affecting our unit.

“The second challenge is the distribution because we are on high landing mode operations. We discover maybe in this state, we take out 90 megawatts but what the distribution would be taking is maximum 24 watts, and anything below 70 megawatts has effect on the turbine hardware.

“We have made some reports on that several times but there is no respond to that effect. Another challenge is the gas take up contract, whether we are taking the gas or not, we are still paying,” he stated.

The Administration Manager of Ibom Power, Ms Imaobong Akpabio, who represented the Managing Director, Engr. Mayen Etukudoh expressed delight for the visit and hoped that the challenges raised by the company would have been tackled before the next visit of the ECN team.