Total Starts Supplying Nigerian Power Plant
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Total have begun joint operations to supply gas to Alaoji plant in Umuobasi-Ukwu, Abia state.
Alaoji is the biggest power station owned by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).
According to Total's statement released December 4, the collaboration is a follow-up to the start-up of the Obite-Ubeta-Rumuji pipeline and the Northern Option Pipeline (NOPL) projects by both companies in August 2016.
The first pipeline is a 42-inch gas pipeline, extending 45 km from Obite to Rumuji in Rivers State and will transport both domestic and export gas. The NOPL project consists of a 50 km, 24-inch gas pipeline starting at OML 58 in Rivers State and ending at the Owaza node in Abia State.
NOPL will have the capacity to provide up to 300mn ft3/d to the Eastern Grid Domestic Gas market, with Alaoji Power Plant taking up to 100mn ft3/d to generate electricity while other users of domestic gas take up the rest.
"Completion of these pipelines is an important milestone in the activities of Total in Nigeria. The project is unique and strategic in meeting the federal government's objectives of gas supply to the domestic market," said Nicolas Terraz, CEO of Total E&P Nigeria Limited. The two gas pipes are part of the ambitious OML 58 Upgrade initiative to increase oil and gas output, improve integrity of the facilities, and eliminate flaring from the mature onshore field.
Alaoji power plant (Photo credit: Nigerian government)
Total had announced partial completion of the NOPL pipe back in January 2015; it said at the time it expected deliveries to the Alaoji plant by end-2015.
As expected, the government and the private sector are taking an interest in gas to power development so as to tackle the country's lack of power infrastructure.
During a recent round table by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Power Sector Group, experts remarked that the economy is largely dependent on thermal power plants which are fuelled by gas, which means that work must be done to get the power sector right through ensuring gas sustainability and availability. Dr Nike Akande, the LCCI President, said: "The Nigerian economy can be an investor's haven if the power sector challenges are holistically addressed."
Omono Okonkwo