Yemie Adeoye
05 July 2013, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Siemens, a global technology leader and player in the Nigerian power sector, has signed a cooperation agreement with Proton Energy Limited for the development of a 500 megawatts, MW, Independent Power Plant to be situated in Delta State, Nigeria. The project will be executed in phases beginning with 125MW scheduled to be realized in 2015.
At the signing ceremony in Lagos, global CEO of Siemens Industrial Power, Dr. Markus Tacke, pledged Siemens commitment to the development of the energy sector in Nigeria.
His words: “Siemens wants not only to be a supplier of goods but also a partner of key players in this developing market and this agreement allows Siemens to become a partner in developing the power generation industry in Nigeria”
Those present at the signing ceremony included chairman, Proton Energy, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode; executive vice chairman, Proton Energy, Mr. Oti Ikomi, managing director/CEO, Siemens Nigeria Mr. Michael Lakota and Mr. Nasir Giwa, General Manager, Siemens Nigeria Oil & Gas.
Siemens has been present in Nigeria since 1970 with active involvement in four key sectors, including energy, healthcare, industry and infrastructure and cities.
Proton Energy has been an active player in the Nigerian power sector. In the ongoing privatisation of power generating and distribution companies, Proton Energy was prequalified as sponsor-company for two PHCN generating companies, Gencos. It is participating as final bidder for Sapele Power Plc and has recently put up a strong bid for the Afam Power Plc.
Speaking further on his company and its projects, Mr. Ikomi, executive vice chairman of Proton, stated that the firm was established a few years ago by business and finance professionals comprising Nigerian, South African and USA-based partners.
According to him, the company’s key focus is on gas power generation. “Proton Energy Limited was prequalified and made bids for key assets as project sponsors for Sapele Power Plc and Afam Power Plc. This project, the Proton Delta Sunrise Project is to be located on a 27.4 hectares land fully owned by the company. The project is being developed by a consortium with Proton Energy Limited as sponsor company and developers and a leading international private equity firm as anchor equity investor.
“We are a young and growing company but we operate by international standards. So, we have been seeking for some time an international technical partner to work with us and over a series of interactions we have now come to a stage where Proton and Siemens are now signing this cooperation agreement. It’s the natural evolution of a strategy we have to get world class technical partners and financial team to speedily implement the project for the benefit of Nigerians,” he said.
He stated that the two most critical items for an IPP development are financial structure and technical partnership, adding: “And our personal experience is that Siemens, both from Siemens AG Germany and in particular Siemens Nigeria have shown very good active process to partner with credible and I stress the word credible project developers in Nigeria. So my advice is that, you do your homework, look at the various potential technical partners”.
He further stated that from the company’s experience, “we feel very strongly to recommend Siemens as a possible partner for IPP development in Nigeria and even across the world”.
