A gas leak and technical issue at the Associated Gas Gathering (AGG) facilities near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have caused a major electricity shortage in Aba’s ring-fenced zone.
This area includes nine out of the 17 local government areas in Abia State.
According to sources who preferred not to be named because they’re not authorized to speak to the media, the problems happened at AGG facilities in Obigbo and Agbada, both close to Port Harcourt.
“The incidents are at Obigbo near Port Harcourt and at Agbada which is between Port Harcourt city and the airport,” said one of the sources, an engineer working with NNPC Marketing Limited (NGML). He added that the issue at Obigbo was noticed earlier but “it does not seem as serious as that of Agbada”.
Engineer Vincent Chukwueke, a well-known gas expert and former senior official at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), explained that for safety reasons, the operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, Heirs Energies, may have had to stop gas supply to the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in Abia’s Osisioma Industrial Layout. This plant supplies power to Aba Power, which then distributes electricity across the Aba Ring-fenced Area.
“It had to suspend gas supplies so as to quickly resolve the issues at the AGGs,” Chukwueke said today.
Ugo Opiegbe, the Managing Director of Aba Power, confirmed in a phone call that his company “has been constrained to make do with only 25MW from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) since yesterday when the supply from the embedded power plant was ceased”.
“The supply from the NDPHC is a fraction of what we can generate from our three turbines, as each produces 47MW,” he added.
He also expressed concern that this drop in electricity supply happened during the Easter holidays, saying, “we are taking every step necessary to restore full supplies between today and tomorrow, so that our people can continue to enjoy the long holidays.”
