11 February 2014, Lagos — The capacity of the Ugheli power plant, the country’s largest gas-fired electricity generation asset, will be expanded following an agreement reached by Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited (TUPL) and General Electric (GE).
The firms have signed an agreement to expand the capacity of TUPL’s Ughelli power plant by1 000MW over the next three to five years.
Both parties have also signed a separate agreement to rehabilitate the damaged GT 15 turbine at the Ughelli plant, which will add 115MW to the plant’s output. With the additional 115MW, as well as other rehabilitation works planned at the plant, output at Ughelli will increase to 700MW by December 2014.
Currently, the Transcorp Ughelli power plant generates 360MW of electricity, up from 160MW on November 1, when Transcorp took ownership of the plant.
The agreements announced on Friday were signed at a closed door meeting between executives of both companies, led by Chairman of Transcorp, Tony Elumelu, and the Global Chairman of General Electric, Jeffrey Immelt.
They follow a cooperation agreement executed by Transcorp and GE in 2013.
Elumelu said, “We are very pleased to work with GE, a proven world leader in power technology development, on the Ughelli plant expansion project. With this, we have taken a bold step in fulfilling our promise to Transcorp’s stakeholders and the people of Nigeria. In a very short period of time, we have achieved significant impact – power production has more than doubled, and with this agreement, we will see increased output before the end of this year. We are confident that this partnership with GE will further accelerate the achievement of our goals in the power sector.”
Immelt said, “GE fully appreciates the confidence expressed by Transcorp. We are happy to bring the considerable resources of GE to support Transcorp’s audacious vision for Nigeria’s Power industry. This partnership with Transcorp underlines GE’s deep commitment to developing the Nigerian power sector.”
Purchased by Transcorp during the 2013 power privatization programme, the $300 million plant is part of the $2.5 billion investment pledge made by Elumelu.
– CajNewsAfrica
