The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has signed a contract with China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC) and General Electric, (GE) to provide 50 Mega Watts of electricity to Maiduguri, Borno State.
The Corporation said CMEC will execute the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) while General Electric (GE) is the equipment manufacturer.
NNPC in a statement on Wednesday signed by Garba Deen Muhammad, group general manager -group public affairs division, explained that the Emergency Power Project is an integral part of its ongoing efforts to deepen domestic gas utilization plan for the nation’s socio-economic growth.
According to the statement, Mele Kyari, group managing director of the NNPC, while peaking at the contract signing event which held virtually, explained that the corporation through its subsidiary, NNPC Gas and Power Investment Company (NGPIC), decided to intervene in the Maiduguri power situation by undertaking the project which will be fired with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and run commercially.
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He said NNPC, as a state-owned oil company and enabler organization, was determined to boost power generation and supply to Nigerian homes through increased investment in gas-fired combined cycle power plants to produce at least 5Gigawatts (GW) additional power for the country.
“NNPC is therefore seeking the cooperation of all stakeholders, especially GE and CMEC. to ensure timely delivery of the single cycle by December 2021 and the combined cycle by the first quarter of 2022,” he said.
Raisin Brice, vice president of GE Africa & Europe, said the company was committed to working with NNPC to achieve success in the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project, noting that GE would be tapping into its vast experience in the country to deliver on the project.
Similar support and commitment were echoed by Fang Yanshui, President of CMEC, the main EPC contractor for the project.
As a mark of confidence in the Corporation, the contractors had commenced movement of vital equipment to the site and started work on the project ahead of the formal signing of the contract.
