Aba Power Limited Electric (APEL), an electricity distribution arm of Geometric Power Limited, has attributed power outages experienced in some parts of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, to inadequate gas supply to Geometric Pant.
Consequently, the company said it was working towards securing additional natural gas supplies from its partners to enhance electricity delivery across nine of the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) it covers.
This initiative is coming on the heels of a planned facility maintenance exercise by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in readiness for the commencement of regular operations on the Alaoji-Aba 132kV line.
Ugo Opiegbe, managing director, Aba Power, in a statement, obtained by BusinessDay, explained that TCN is planning to service the line to ensure regular and quality bulk power supply to the Aba Ringfenced Area, managed by Aba Power.
Opiegbe also stated that discussions have been ongoing with the NNPCL and Heirs Energies, operators of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, located in Owaza community, in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State, to secure increased gas supplies to the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant, located in Osisoma Industrial Layout, Aba.
According to him, “We have, been in talks with the NNPCL and Heirs Energies, to increase gas supply to the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant, in Osisoma Industrial Layout, to enable us to provide electricity to the people, businesses, and communities in the nine LGAs that we cover, and they have pledged to do their best to give us increased gas.”
The NNPCL and Heirs Energies jointly own Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, located in the Owaza community in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State, with Heirs Energies as the operator
Cliff Eneh, an electric power consultant, stated that Geometric Power Plant, receives gas from a 27-kilometre gas pipeline, built to the OML.
Eneh, who previously worked with both the Texas Power and Light Company in the United States and the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), said that due to insufficient gas supplies to Geometric Power plant that the firm has been augmenting its power generation with supplies from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), which uses TCN’s 133kV and 330kV lines to make them available to the Geometric Power Plant.”
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“This is why Aba residents and businesses might be affected by the scheduled one-week maintenance work on the Line, though Geometric Power has taken proactive steps to either minimise the impact on the customers or reduce it to the barest minimum,” he said.
Commending the collaboration between Geometric Power, TCN, and NDPHC, Eneh emphasised that the impact of the planned TCN shutdown could be avoided, if gas supplies to the 188MW plant is sufficient.
“The planned TCN shutdown would not have any impact on the Aba Ringfence, if there are sufficient gas supplies to the 188MW plant,” he said.
Eneh also stated that during the nationwide outages in October and November 2024, that residents in the Aba Ringfence did not experience power disruptions, due to improvement in gas supply during that period, facilitated by the NNPCL and Heirs Energies.
“People in the Aba Ringfence did not experience outages when there was a series of nationwide outages in October and November 2024 because there was a significant gas supply improvement to the area during this period by the NNPCL and Heirs Energies.”
Looking ahead, Eneh believes that the plant, once fully operational with sufficient gas, would not only supply uninterrupted electricity to all nine LGAs under its coverage, but also contribute to the national grid.
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