Nigeria FG to build gas pipeline to Olorunsogo power station

“The station generates 100 megawatts instead of its 335 capacity.”

The federal government would build a new pipeline to facilitate gas supply to the Olorunsogo power station in Ogun, Minister for Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, said at the end of a two-day tour of power plants in the South West. 

Olorunsogo, with an installed capacity of 335 megawatts, currently generates less than 100 megawatts due to inadequate gas supply and spare parts. The pipeline, when built, would assist the station to realise its full capacity by the end of the year.

Nnaji noted that only two of the eight units at the Olorunsogo Power Plant are working.

“We are quite disappointed at the power plant at Olorunsogo as out of eight units, only two are struggling to work,” he said. “What is expected to get some of the units working effectively is quite little compared to what has been put in place in terms of structures.”

The minister assured workers that the ministry would work with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to guarantee steady gas supply to the station, adding that efforts were underway to get supply through the Escravos gas pipeline in Lagos.

Nnaji, also, reassured that privatisation of the power station would not lead to sack of workers, as more workers would even be needed by new investors.

Minister for Information, Labaran Maku said that the tour was to identify problems the country is facing power generation and distribution so the government could deliver on its promised 5,000 megawatts.

“The important thing is that these challenges are surmountable,” he said. “If you look at Olorunsogo you will see that gas supply is the major problem which is still below expectation and government does not want to build power plant where there is no gas.”

Earlier, Mohammed Almu, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the power station said the station required about N100 million to refurbish some equipment.

The delegation, also, visited Egbin Thermal Power Station in Lagos, Transmission Company in Osogbo and Ikeja –West Transmission Station in Ipaja.

-By Chris Onyeose

Source: DailyTimes