Government offices and facilities in Edo State as well as a 1,500-hectare industrial park currently under construction are set to enjoy stable electricity supply following the completion of the 33KVA lines, part of the 55MW Independent Power Project in Ologbo, near Benin City, the state capital.
The project, a vision of the Godwin Obaseki-led administration along with Ossiomo Power and Chinese firm CCETC, comprises a gas plant, a 55MW IPP, 33KVA line, an injection substation at the Government House, in addition to an 11kVA minigrid which comprises the industrial park and the Ologbo area.
This project is significantly increasing the power available to the people of Edo because the migration of industries and business to a more stable source of supply from the IPP will leave more power available to the people from the grid.
Currently, the Benin Electricity Distribution Company gets on average about 9 percent of the power on the grid for Edo state, which translates to around 90/100MW considering that around 3,000MW is allocated to the DisCos.
There is a cluster of industries around Benin City which take about 60MW since they are heavy users, so in reality the rest of Edo State gets about 30MW and this has been the situation over the last five years.
For a government in a hurry to develop the state, this is an untenable situation, hence the governor and his team began shopping for fresh ideas to improve power and encourage industries to set up in the state.
Part of the government’s plan was to construct an industrial cluster, build an independent power project to support and encourage private investors to settle in the state as part of its InvestEdo initiative.
Through its InvestEdo initiative, the Edo State government has an ambitious plan to make the state the industrial hub of the South-South through the development of industrial clusters and free trade zones. Some of the projects under development include in various sectors of the economy such as solid minerals, agribusiness, cement manufacturing, refining and petrochemicals, and technical training.
“In terms of the market, our primary objective is power for industrialisation which is consistent with the objectives of the Government of Edo State, which includes power to the state government offices, power to industries and power for the industrial park,” said Uwa Igiehon, Managing Director, Ossiomo Power.
Igiehon said the Ossiomo Industrial Park’s focused development includes marine facilities with a completed river port and natural gas pipeline infrastructure within the site, underpinning the company’s focus on energy and petrochemicals.
The impact of these projects, according to Igiehon, are immense. Apart from freeing up much-needed power for the people of the state, it will lead to employment generation, production of cheaper goods, and contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.
According to Igiehon, in terms of development structure, the initial technical, commercial and financial development of the project was done by Ossiomo Power led by the managing partners, who are essentially Nigerians based in London with international finance and engineering background. It partnered with Edo State Government to execute the Project. CCETC joined after completion of the project development.
“The gas plant was commissioned in January, the power plant testing commenced in February and operations commenced in May. The 33KV line will be connected to the Edo State Government Injection Substation in September. So essentially the project is complete and in terms of further development, the expansion of the generation facilities is already underway,” Igiehon said.
