NERC issues OMA power 1,080mw on grid licence for power generation
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued an on-grid 1,080 MW generation licence to Oma Power Generation Company Limited.
The gas-fired power plant will be located at Orgwu-Ogwe, Ukwa West, in Abia state.
The ceremony took place at the Commission’s Headquarters and in attendance were the Commissioner, Legal Licensing and Enforcement, Dr Steven Andzenge and Mary Awolokun, who is heading the Engineering division as well as the company’s delegation led by the Director, Business Development and Project Finance, Tim Onomiwu.
The Chairman/Chief Executive NERC, Dr Sam Amadi described the granting of the 1080MW capacity licence as an ambitious project’’ It is an ambitious venture, but doable.
Egbin Power, which is located in Lagos, is the first generation company in history to have been issued a licence of such magnitude. It will also be recalled that the Commission recently issued licence to Zuma Energy Nigeria Limited, to operate a combined 1,200MW coal power plant in Itobe, Kogi state.
Oma Power Director, Business Development, Tim Onomiwu assured the Commission that the licence terms will be adhered to. He said that the company’s development partners, namely GE and Geometrics are at the stage of negotiating project agreement and finances and that the plant will be built in three phases.
OMA Power Project is a 3-phase green-field 1080MW facility located in Abia State, Nigeria. The first phase of the OMA Power project is a 500MW (gross) simple cycle facility driven by General Electric Frame 9 turbines which is a proven technology. It will have an option for expansion and upgrade to a 1080MW combined cycle facility in its subsequent phases. The plant will be run on natural gas and will be sourced from a manifold which is situated about 30 kilometres away from the facility. There is ample gas in this area of the country which is situated a short distance away from the Niger Delta.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
6 Comments
This is the result of successfully privatization of power sector by President GEJ. The fruits of Mr President efforts in power sector will materialize soon by the grace of God. God bless Nigeria.
As he said ambitious.
Doable if there is focus and the right partner. Our problem is not generation, it is distribution and meters.
How do you talk of distribution if nothing is generated. You don’t give something out of nothing, please
I have lost respect for Dr. Sam Amadi and his publicity-seeking enterprise. I used to admire his intellect, but lost it all when I saw him on Channels TV try to explain without conviction the issues of pre-paid meter, service charge without the actual provisions of service, and the supposed provisions of service prior to the establishment of a framework to check the parameters of service delivery and pricing at the expense of customers. I was very disappointed because not even grammar nor semantic saved him on that day.
Also, I saw him explain without success the provisions of guaranteed line of credit to winners of the privatized power stations in Nigeria. It was very amusing and a minus for the government that the power stations were sold to companies that lacked the financial capacity to make investments in the sector. It questions the approval of those companies by Bureau of Public Enterprise which prequalified the companies when prior due diligence ought and should have been conducted to determine the three most essential bid requirements namely; financial, technical and the integrity of those behind the SPV or company as the case may be. Why should they ‘win’ and immediately rely on government to guarantee their payments for the development of the companies they acquired? Did these companies submit financial bid?
Lastly, I really wonder if the NERC does not have communication department to handle information dissemination, and why he has to be on air at the slightest opportunity of a new development.
Oma Power Generation Company Limited, which company? I can’t find any information.
We will review and take appropriate action.