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Tag: Kaduna power plant

  • Senate halts launch of 215mw Kaduna power plant

    Senate halts launch of 215mw Kaduna power plant

    The Senate Joint Committee on Gas and Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy yesterday ordered that the inauguration of the 215mw Kaduna Power Plant be suspended following inconsistencies in the contract implementation.

    The committee, chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, gave the order after a one-day hearing on the “urgent need to save the 215 MW Kaduna Power Plant.”

    The plant, which was started in 2009, is already three years behind inauguration schedule.

    The lawmakers said the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mr. Louis Edozie, who defended the change in parameters of the plant from gas-powered to diesel-powered,  was unconvincing.

    Edozie represented the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola at the event.

    He told the committee that the ministry would inaugurate one of the eight units in January, adding that the unit will run on diesel instead of the gas.

    The diesel is expected to cost N46 million per day.

    Chairman of GreenVille LNG Eddy Van Den Broeke said his company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kaduna Gas Plant to build storage facilities for the plant at no cost.

    He noted that while the plant will produce a kilowatt of electricity at N79 on diesel, it will produce the same kilowatt at N37 on gas.

    Broeke added that his company invested $400 million on its gas plant in Roumuji, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    He said: “In 2014 when the parameters were signed, it was agreed that LNG is most competitive. We have invested $400 million after which people in the ministry decided to change the parameters.

    “It will cost $200 million more to use AGO (diesel) because there is no other fuel available that can replace LNG and GreenVille. I would want the ministry to give me one cent of response on this change of theory.”

    He said that besides the functional gas plant, Greenville had imported 250 trucks to evacuate gas to the plant before the change of parameters by the ministry.

    Senator Albert Bassey told Edozie  to inform the minister that the Senate has stopped the launching “because we feel very disappointed”.

    Bassey said: “Please, tell your minister to stop the process  because the project cannot be ready even by mid next year.

    “We insist it will be cheaper to run the plant with gas which is also environmentally friendly. Let your minister know we cannot be taken for granted.”

    Senator Abaribe decried the ministry’s decision to change the parameters of the plant from Gas to diesel, which is largely imported. He insisted the ministry should put the planned launch on hold to enable the committee embark on further physical examination of the plant.

    Abaribe said: “We have heard a lot of disturbing things and we have all seen that we have put the Cart before the Horse. Everyone in this hall today has now seen why we ask questions. We ask questions when things don’t seem to be going the right way.

    “You see one price at N79 and the other at N35, why do you go for the higher cost which is not cost effective. If you are going to spend N46 million daily to run a plant and you said it is temporary, that is not effective. If you start one plant and the rest don’t come up in eight years, we need to save this project from becoming another white elephant project.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Senate halts commissioning of Kaduna power plant

    Senate halts commissioning of Kaduna power plant

    The Senate Joint Committee on Gas and Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy on Monday ordered the suspension of the planned commissioning of the 215 Megawatt Kaduna Power Plant over inconsistencies in the contract implementation.

    The Joint Committee chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe handed the order after a one day investigative hearing on the “urgent need to save the 215 MW Kaduna Power Plant.”

    The power plant inaugurated in 2009 is already three years behind the commissioning schedule.

    The lawmakers said they were unimpressed with the reasons given by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Mr. Louis Edozie, who defended the change in the plant parameters from gas to diesel.

    Edozie represented the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola at the event.

    The ministry’s representatives led by the permanent secretary told the Committee about plans to commission one of the eight units in the plant in January next year.

    They also informed the Committee that the unit when commissioned would run on diesel instead of the originally planned gas.

    The diesel fuel is expected to cost the country N46 million per day.

    The lawmakers were however alarmed to hear that the cost would be far cheaper if the plant runs on gas.

    The Chairman of GreenVille LNG, Eddy Van Den Broeke, who led his team to address the Committee told members of the panel that his company had a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kaduna Gas Plant to build storage facilities for the plant at no cost.

     

  • Senate to probe Kaduna power plant failure

    The Senate on Thursday mandated its Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy and Committee on Gas to investigate the failure of Kaduna State government-owned power plant to generate electricity.

    The plant has a capacity of 215 Megawatt.

    The Senate’s decision followed a motion moved by the Chairman of its Committee on Gas, Bassey Akpan, who said there was urgent need to save the plant.

    He said the plant’s problem had led to protracted power outage in northern part of the country, leading to shutdown of industries.

    Akpan said, “It is surprising that the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing appears to have jettisoned the use of gas to power the Kaduna power plant.

    “Instead, it opted for the construction of Automobile Gas Oil (diesel) tanks for the use of diesel, which is 60 per cent higher in cost when compared with gas.

    “It is further surprising that in the Federal Tenders Journal of May 28 to June 11, 2017, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing advertised for supply of AGO instead of gas to power the Kaduna power plant.”

    He called for alternative source of gas supply to the plant to get it working.

    The Senate president, Bukola Saraki, urged the committees to carry out the investigation and get back to the Senate.

    He said, ‘’The committee must take this matter with the seriousness it deserves and quickly come back to us.

    “Clearly, there is an issue here. Obviously, there are people who are looking at personal interest as against the interest of the people.

    “There is no doubt about it; alternative option of gas is the way forward. To say now that it is diesel, I really cannot fathom.”

    Saraki assured the Senate would take a firm decision on the matter.

    NAN

  • Kaduna power plant to be inaugurated in 2017 – Fashola

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, on Wednesday said the 215 Megawatt (MW) Dual Fired Kaduna Power Plant will be completed in June 2017.

    Fashola gave the assurance after he inspected the power project in Kaduna, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    He said the contract was awarded in 2009 and was expected to be completed within 36 months.

    According to him, the project cannot be completed as schedule due to inadequate budgetary allocation by the previous administration.

    The minister said work had since resumed at the site in Kudenden Area of Kaduna, adding that the project would be completed in the second quarter of 2017.

    Fashola commended the state governor, Nasiru El-Rufai, for his determination to ensure the timely completion of the project.

    El-Rufai, who accompanied the minister, said the state government had sourced for N7.5 billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure prompt completion of the project.