After nine days of electricity outage in the Aba Ring-fenced Area comprising nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State, electricity supply to the area has resumed.
“Power was restored at about 5 am today immediately gas pressure to our turbines hit 40 bars”, disclosed Edise Ekong, the Aba Power Brand and Communications Manager in a statement today.
“No one in either Aba Power or the entire Geometric Power Group slept last night as we were anticipating natural gas supply resumption from Heirs Energies, the operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 which provides the 188MW-Geometric Power Plant in the Osisioma Industrial Area of Aba.”
The Geometric Power Plant, in turn, provides electricity to Aba Power, Nigeria’s 12 electricity distribution company, popularly known as DisCo, which is a member of the Geometric Power Group, thus making Geometric Power Nigeria’s foremost electricity integrated power firm.
Though reputed to be the only place in Nigeria with regular electricity since Vice President Shettima commissioned the Aba Integrated Power Project two years ago, power supply to Aba and its environs was disrupted following the collapse of the Clutch Gear and Starter Motor part of the Associated Gas Gathering (AGG) facilities at Obigbo in Rivers State belonging to Heirs Energies, a new but rapidly growing indigenous oil and gas company.
The Clutch Gear and Starter Motor, a critical component that pressurises gas flow, collapsed nine days ago on account of old age, according to Dike Ejike, a mechanical engineer and power consultant who has been monitoring the state and performance of gas facilities in the Eastern Nigerian corridor.
“The gas facilities in places like Rivers and Abia states were installed between 50 and 60 years ago”, the engineer disclosed to newsmen in Abuja last week.
“This means that most of the parts and equipment are no longer produced, the implication being that Heirs Energies deserves commendation for finding a lone Clutch Gear and Starter Motor part in the United States and desperately flying it into Nigeria within a few days”.
Meanwhile, Aba Power Managing Director Ugo Opiegbe has lauded “individuals, businesses, and groups in Aba for their understanding, patience, and solidarity during the period of acute trial and tribulation for all of us.
“Groups like the Abia State Amalgamated Traders Association led by Chief Alphonsus Udeigbo, Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association led by Engr Leo Onyemesiri, Abia State Association of Small and Medium Industrialists, and the Abia State branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria were exploring ways to assist in getting gas supply to the Geometric Power Plant for the benefit of all.
“Of course, Governor Alex Otti, the Abia State Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Engr Ikechukwu Monday, and the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Commission left no stone unturned to solve this problem.
“We were delighted to receive last week in flesh and blood the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on Power and Public Utilities, led by the Hon Aaron Uzodike and the Hon Stephen Akachukwu Ucheonye, in our premises in their determination to end the gas crisis”.
Mr. Opiegbe assured electricity consumers in the Aba Ringfence of “constant, quality and affordable electricity with the restoration of gas supply to our plant.”
