FROM GEOMETRIC POWER TO ALAOJI POWER PLANT : GOVERNOR OTTI, PLEASE LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP.
It was nice watching Governor Alex Otti’s dancing steps towards the Alaoji Power Plant on a mission to find enduring answers to the perennial problems of power supply inadequacy plaguing our socioeconomic life.
Everything was looking good at first sight during the facility guided tour by the Governor while in the company of the man who could not manage EEDC well enough to guarantee passable paltry power supply for Abians across the board, Chief, Sir Emeka Offor, Chairman of Chrome Group, Interstate Electric, EEDC et al.
I was wondering why the governor had to be at Alaoji power plant, owned by the Niger Delta Power Holdings, an entity from a different power jurisdiction with the Chairman of Chrome Group of EEDC, Sir Emeka Offor when i got the wind that Sir E was undertaking equipment procurement contract EPC for the power complex.
This revelation of course dovetails to another fact of our lives which cliche aptly ascribes a familiarity between the said Sir E, EEDC and the prevailing darkness in Alaigbo today orchestrated by power blackouts from the utility company. It is important for us to draw the governor’s attention to this ostensible unsavory conclusion.
But for those who may require more info, Alaoji Power plant complex was a creation of the National Integrated Power Projects NIPP of the Obasanjo era where strategic power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure was ordered and procured across the country by the regime to ramp up our power generation capacity to at least 15,000 megawatts of electricity.
Alaoji plant was conceived as a dual cycle 1030 megawatts capacity with 4 units of 125 megawatts gas utilization turbine engines and 2 units of 262 megawatts thermal or steam utilization engines. The gas units were commissioned by Jonathan’s administration before their exit in 2015. These projects were not pre-planned, no pre-project surveys were envisioned before contractors were hurriedly mobilized to various sites. Many of those contractors were paid as much as 100% before even mobilizing to sites.
These four gas turbine engines with a total combined output capacity of about 560 megawatts had suffered gas supply shortages since they were commissioned into use. The Federal Government also owners of gas supply companies could not guarantee supplies to the Turbines. If you know what i mean? They had never been able to add up to 50 megawatts of electricity into the national grid meaning that it had never contributed up to 10% of installed capacity utilization to the grid.
As at today, after 20 years since its inception and conception, most of the equipment shelf life are on the diminishing curve, moribund and cannot produce required output or achieve the objectives of their conception in the first place. Most of those power units require turnaround maintenance TAM which may probably be the reason Chief, Sir E and his Chrome Group are now in the picture.
If you have ever been opportune to watch the Oscar winning short story called the Black Hole, that is what Sir E and his Chrome Group represents to every client in the name of equipment procurement and turnaround maintenance. We have watched it happen in most major tech complexes owned by the federal government, all the refineries went into these TAMs projects and never came out alive. Need we say more? Abia state and Governor Alex Otti should just keep a comfortable distance from the Alaoji Power plant. It will be another black hole waiting to happen to us.
The power plant belongs to another jurisdiction of power mafia that will end up multiplying our power supply headaches. There’s nothing in that complex that should interest Abia state for now. Governor Alex Otti should continue to pursue the other plan he started to extend supplies from Geometric Power Plant Aba Island to Umuahia through the TCN lines networks on the transmission leg of it and through the EEDC at the distribution leg of it in Umuahia and environ.
Anything more than this is leading the state to another black company that only produces and supplies black holes projects.
I will professionally further advise the governor and his team to as much as possible avoid mixing EEDC in the same loop that connects Geometric Power Ltd while trying to solve the power supply problems. The state government can explore a new investment plan in the local power network distribution infrastructure for Umuahia and environ to totally excuse EEDC from the New Abia arrangements of improving power supply.
Sir E and his EEDC may still find a circuitous way to sabotage the collective will of Abians trying to escape the hangman of power supply blackouts he very unconscionably has been levying against our communities through his associate companies.
This can be done by putting up the distribution infrastructure in Umuahia through a competitive public tender for bidding by competent companies. Under proper evaluation, the wire networks, transformers and other accessories supplying Umuahia may not exceed $5 million USD. Many companies can take it up as a business services platform and we may then take our deserving rest from EEDC.
We must learn from what Geometric Power suffered in the hands of Sir E and the EEDC trying to obtain the Aba ring fence Island from them and what it eventually cost them both in money and time. At long last, more than $20 Million USD was still paid to EEDC for the ring fence Island before Geometric Power could be launched.
Every effort should be made by the Alex Otti government not to allow the future of Abia state power supply economy to be hijacked by rabid economic capitalists in the like of Sir E, Chrome Group, Interstate Electric and EEDC. Let us look well before we begin to leap this time.
Dr. Engr Odo Ijere