The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) had since February 2023 completed the Maiduguri Gas Plant initiated under the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, according to sources.
The feelers about the completion and inauguration of the gas plant came against the backdrop of a report on the critical infrastructure to address the problem of power supply disruptions in Maiduguri due to attacks by insurgents, which had yet to take off.
A source familiar with the matter said: “NNPC has diligently executed this project starting with the simple cycle phase (32MW), which was completed and inaugurated with liquid fuel (AGO) in February 2023 and the power plant successfully operated.
The source pointed out that, however, operation with diesel fuel which was the secondary fuel for the gas turbine was not sustainable due to the high cost of AGO.
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He said: “The regasification facility has now been completed to enable the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as the primary fuel source for the power plant.
“As of November 2, 2023, the plant, which is run by the NNPC Ltd, in partnership with China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC) and General Electric (GE), has dispatched about 12MegaWatt of power to the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) for utilisation on its network.
“The project’s second phase, involving the combined cycle mode, and producing an additional 18MW, is expected to reach completion by the end of 2024.”
