… begins work to recover 225MW Gbarain plant in Bayelsa

Oredola Adeola

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) has successfully restored additional 450MW of generation capacity to the national grid following the completion of scheduled maintenance on the Geregu NIPP plant.

This was contained in a statement by Emmanuel Ojor, Head, Corporate Communications and External Relations, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC)

According to the statement, the four-week extended minor inspection—carried out by the plant’s Original Equipment Manufacturer, Siemens Energy—was undertaken to improve the facility’s operational reliability, performance, and efficiency, while also extending its Equivalent Operating Hours (EOH) and overall lifespan.

Engr. Jennifer Adighije, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, in a remark confirmed that in the last 1 year the company has recovered six (6) previously dormant gas turbines across the NDPHC fleet of gas turbines.

These, according to her, include GT4 at the Calabar NIPP, GT1 at Omotosho II, GT1 and GT2 at Benin NIPP, GT4 at Sapele NIPP, and currently GT3 and GT4 at Alaoji NIPP on standby for pre-commissioning after gas supply remedial works.

She said, “These restored units collectively would have cumulative 875MW additional capacity to NDPHC’s mechanical available generation, adding significant boost to national power generation capacity.

Engr. Adighije further announced the commencement of restoration works on the 225MW Gbarain NIPP plant, which has been out of service since 2020.

She therefore described the development as a major step toward recovering dormant national power in a bid to commercialise the output of the plant to serve critical commercial and industrial clusters within the Niger Delta region.

She explained that despite persistent sector-wide challenges, NDPHC has recorded several operational and financial milestones. These include:

“Recovery of 110 containers with critical turbine parts and HRSG components, abandoned at Onne Port for over nine years, commencement of the Light Up Nigeria – Agbara industrial cluster project to connect the Agbara Industrial Estate to the grid and a 10MW embedded solar project for an industrial area in Kano, Completion of key transmission and distribution projects in Borno and Delta States, as well as the completion of Afam–Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line.

Other success stories, according to the MD include recovery of over $10 million in legacy debts from bilateral customers, securing $15 million in insurance claims for the Alaoji plant fire incident, advanced engagements with NERC on recovering NDPHC’s investments in TCN’s transmission expansion projects, resolution of longstanding commercial issues with ACCUGAS, leading to an amendment of gas supply agreement which reduces government’s exposure.

She further confirmed that, the management of NDPHC has introduced a procurement benchmarking desk for streamlining procurement practices, Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for enhanced staff performance management, and a management support allowance to cushion the impacts of fuel subsidy removal.

Engr. Adighije reaffirmed NDPHC’s commitment to “restoring dormant capacity, stabilizing operations, and supporting Nigeria’s goal of a more reliable and sustainable power supply value chain.”

She said NDPHC’s management remains committed to transparency, accountability and constructive engagement with stakeholders in its quest for unlocking universal access to electricity for powering businesses and households across the country.