Yenagoa—The Bayelsa State Government says it has commenced the process of refurbishing the Kolo Creek Gas Turbine plant at Imiringi, in the Ogbia Local Government Area of the state..
The State government also indicated its intention to build new gas turbine plants to create an enabling environment for the growth of electric-power-driven and dependent industries in the state.
This was contained in a statement by Mr. Doubara Atasi, spokesman to the Bayelsa Deputy Governor, Sen. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who received a business delegation from Jumboogois Global Services Limited and their foreign partners in Government House, Yenagoa.
Ewhrudjakpo, who expressed delight that the energy consultancy firm was able to move down with its partners from the Republic of China to assess the gas turbine at Imiringi, said there could be no industrialization without sustainable and adequate power supply.
According to him, government is prepared to leverage on the liberalization of the power sector and take full advantage of the abundant natural gas reserves in the state to build additional power plants to meet the growing energy needs of the people.
The Deputy Governor maintained that the Imiringi Gas Turbine alone could no longer supply the volume of electricity demanded in the state in view of the expansion of the distribution network covering several communities previously not connected to the grid.
He explained that government had already signed a memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the firm as part of its commitment to the project geared towards improving power generation and distribution in the state.
He, therefore, called on Jumboogois Global Services Limited to expedite action on the refurbishment of the gas turbine and the local assembling of pre-paid meters for electricity consumers.
He said : “We are going to latch in on the opportunity created by the law in the power sector. Bayelsa is in a hurry to develop, so we are excited about this project. The Kolo Creek Gas Turbine is among the first of such plants established in Nigeria.
“Power is productivity, and productivity is progress. There is no industrialization that can take place without power. As a government, we are happy that a son of the soil is spearheading this project, and we are quite encouraged by the steps taken so far.
“You talked about the issue of smart prepaid meters. The prepaid meter is another way of making sure that we do not only generate revenue but also ensure that people will get value for money.
“I also think that the power needs of the state is beyond the Imiringi Gas Turbine, as it is now. So, we should be looking at establishing another gas turbine in the state because Bayelsa is gas, and gas is Bayelsa State.”
Earlier, the Managing Director of Jumboogois Global Services Limited, Mr. Timipere Gilbert Ogoibiri, said the firm and its foreign partners had inspected the state-owned Kolo Creek Gas Turbine plant, as part of the MoU that was signed in January this year.
Mr. Ogoibiri, who noted that the company was quite impressed with what government had done so far, adding that they were also working towards the assembly plant for prepaid meters in line with its MoU with government.
