Eni in Talks on Nigeria CCGT Expansion

Italy's Eni signed a memorandum of understanding January 23 with Nigeria to develop its investment in the power and upstream sectors.

Ibe Kachikwu, chairman of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and minister of state for petroleum resources, met Eni's chief executive Claudio Descalzi in Rome to sign the agrement. 

Eni's statement said that, through its subsidiaries Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE), it will promote new activities "that can significantly boost  Nigeria’s social and economic development." It added that the Port Harcourt refinery will be rehabilitated, while upstream oil and gas production operations will be "intensified" upstream in the onshore, offshore and ultra-deep water operated areas.

NNPC chairman and minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu (Photo credit: NNPC)

Both parties of the MoU also intend to enhance the access to energy by doubling the power generation capacity in Okpai IPP (independent power producer) through the fast track development of its Phase II, to make it one of the largest combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants in Africa.

The first phase of the Okpai IPP combined cycle power plant was commissioned on April 1, 2005, by NAOC in Delta State. The plant was the first joint venture-sponsored IPP in the country, committed to assist the federal government in providing reliable and dependable power supplies.

Nine months ago as part of a wider pronouncement on why upstream firms should invest in African power, Descalzi said in April 2016 that Eni is now studying the possibility of doubling this plant’s capacity to 960 MW. Eni says the existing 480 MW already covers the needs of 10mn people.

The 480 MW Okpai CCGT plant near Kwale in Delta State (Photo credit: Eni)

Finally, the January 23 MoU sets the basis for assessing the national power grid's reliability and the most efficient renewable energy projects in order to "secure energy accessibility in the country’s most remote areas." Nigeria's minister of power, Babatunde Fashola recently assured Nigerians they could expect improved power supplies in future. He made the remarks at the Nextier Power Dialogue in the Nigerian capital Abuja January 21.

Eni has already committed to building renewable power plants in Algeria and Egypt, where it is an active oil and gas producer, and signaled last year it wished to do the same in sub-Saharan countries where it operates too.

Eni holds a 10.4% stake in Nigeria LNG, the country's largest gas export venture, and operates or is partner in several producing gasfields. It has been present in Nigeria since 1962 and had net oil and gas production there of about 125,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day in 2016.

Omono Okonkwo