Emma Amaize
WARRI- GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan said that a team of officials had left the state for United States of America for the testing, first week of August, of the first gas turbine generator manufactured by USA-based Rolls Royce Trent, for the Delta State Independent Power Project, IPP at Oghara, Ethiope-West Local Government Area.
The governor who spoke to newsmen in Warri said construction work has started on the base of the power plant in Oghara , adding that it was after testing that the gas turbine would be shipped in the state and that hopefully, the construction of the base would have been completed by the time the turbine would arrive the country.
Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, who , last month, divested his 14 years interest in Davnotch Nigeria Limited, the company that won the contract for the supply and installation of 2 Nos. Rolls Rocye Trent gas turbine generator in 2009 said in his leave-taking session with newsmen said the first turbine would be shipped by the manufacturer on August 15.
In the words of Governor Uduaghan, “A team has left Delta State to inspect the turbine already, the turbine are going to be tested, I think they will start testing first week of August, by the time they finish testing, then they will bring the turbine. And I think they have started some work at the base in Oghara, where they will put the turbine”.
“And as I have kept explaining, the most important thing is not the base, but the turbine itself and you must tie the construction of the base to the time the turbines will come so that they don’t come and stay at the ports like the one the National IPP did, they stayed in the ports for almost two years and that led to extra cost. So we are timing importation of the turbine with the construction of the base”, he said.
According to the governor, “So, like I said, they start testing early August, they test at the point of manufacture, not on the ground, after testing, I think it takes them about four to six weeks to test before they start bringing them. Hopefully, by then, we would have finished the base”.
The supply and installation was first awarded to Davnotch at the cost N21.7 billion in 2009 but reviewed to N23.2 billion in 2011 due to increased capacity of the gas turbine, but to the technicalities involved in the project, some people who did not understand the process went to town with the allegation that the project had been abandoned and the money shared by some persons.
