Cummins Power To Boost Sapele 300megawatt Project Output

The nation’s power industry is about to receive a boost as one of Nigeria’s leading independent power providers, Cummins Power Generation Nigeria Limited, has rolled out an action plan leading to the building of the 300 megawatts Africa’s largest gas-fired power plant with Sapele Power Plc (SPP).

According to the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed with SPP, Cummins will invest in the construction, operation and maintenance of the plant to ensure continuous power supply and Sapele will then evacuate the power through the national grid.

The plant will operate on natural gas and utilise the cogeneration waste heat recovery technology of Cummins gas engines, one of the most efficient on the global market, designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom, making the project both economically viable and environmentally friendly.

SPP operates Nigeria’s second largest power plant with installed capacity of 1020MW, capable of meeting the energy needs of around 750,000 homes at full capacity.

The chairman, SPP, Anthony Onoh, who outlined some of the strategies to be deployed by the company to achieve the set target, explained:“We have put together a detailed business plan for the phased and sustainable actualization of this goal.

The first phase of this plan focusing on capacity recovery is billed to bring plant output to 250MW by Q2 2016, with the return to service of a third steam turbine unit.

“The second phase of the plan will triple plant output in the short-mid term through a mix of projects such as the present project with Cummins.

Sapele Power Plc, leveraging its parent company’s pedigree in the energy and oil and gas industries, is poised to facilitate the timely implementation of this project. Our growth plan is driven by strong transaction economics, a robust and expanding sector supported by favourable government, fiscal terms, and strong potential financial results.”