A Gas Turbine Generating Station in Rivers State.

The Rivers State Governor,
Chief Ezenwo Nyesom Wike in his maiden address during his inauguration on May 29, 2015 reeled out his action plan, among which was to enhance the Rivers people’s prosperity through power supply and energy security. He promised to ensure the completion of on-going electrification projects.
According to him, as an initial step towards tackling the challenges of irregular power supply before making fresh investments, “we will conduct a forensic audit to find out the reasons behind the failure of the state to reap maximally from the huge investments already committed to the power sector by the immediate past administration. We will also review all issues relating to the secret privatisation and or sale of the government investments in power and other related projects without due process”.
Without wasting time, the governor has set up a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to probe the alleged sales of four Gas Turbine Generating Stations. They are Trans-Amadi  (Port Harcourt) Station – 3x20mw solar GT, Omoku (ONELGA) Gas Turbine – 3x20mw solar GT, Eleme (ELGA) Gas Turbine – 1x20mw (G.E. Engines) and Afam Gas Turbine Station.
These were projects initiated and completed   through the former Governors Peter Odili  and Governor Amaechi’s administration’s then decision to embark on an extensive construction of the State Power Grid System (450mw) projected over 10 years period to feed all the 23 local government areas in the state.
There were also two others – Soku (AKULGA) Station 2x10mw  and Bonny (OLGA) Station – 2x10mw involved in the scheme as a reintegration into the new grid system.
The Rivers State government Policy Strategy for the development of power infrastructure is structured to achieve economic empowerment of its citizenry and to raise  the living standards of the people through the establishment of sustainable industrial base grassroots programme. This actually informed  Governor Odili  to initiate the gas turbine projects. Now, Governor Wike irked by the present scenario in the power sector of the state has decided to find out the root cause of the incessant epileptic power supply in the state.
Some people have misconstrued Governor Wike’s intention as an action to witch hunt the immediate past governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi while some view it as a cheap way of gaining or currying the favour of Rivers people.
Whichever way anyone might think about the probe into the alleged sales of the four gas turbine plants, the decision of Governor Wike is in the right direction and in the good interest of the entire state and the people.
In the advanced countries of the world, energy availability is highly prized so much so that living standard is a measure of the National Energy Index or industrial development. Some schools of  thought believed that Africa’s under-development was initiated by Europe during the heinous slave trade that was alien. But today in several countries, under development has become a trademark in transitional societies.
Development is a function of growth and change in the economic, political and social institutions just as a positive change in the people’s lives gives eloquence to dismal economic and social deprivation. Rivers people have suffered for decades despite the lavish generosity God has bestowed on the state, hence every leader  of the state must strive to put in place a programme of infrastructural development designed to raise the moral tone of a people whose poverty profile ranks the worst in the midst of plenty in the whole world.
Rivers people deserve an aggressive rural and urban electrification programme, economic empowerment / poverty alleviation, among others that need to be factored on both short and long terms.
Electrification by means of Isolated Diesel Generating Stations as a stop-gap should be a measure for short-term relief while long-term programme should embrace a two-system generation and supply such as electrification by means of direct inter-connection to National grid and gas turbine power plant / grid system.
The Odili administration had put both long and short-term objectives for electricity supply for the state to achieve reliable power supply to rural communities.
It has also provided standby power plant to boost existing state government development programmes / efforts in the rural areas, establish a sustainable industrial base in the rural areas as well as build a bridge to link government and the rural population by creating development impacts and economic  empowerment of the rural dwellers.
One would think that this is in line with the present administration’s plan to develop more urban towns from Ahoada, Bori and Degema. It is our belief that adequate supply of reasonably prized energy is an essential ingredient for meeting the basic needs of society, stimulating and supporting economic growth as an index of industrialisation. The Wike administration as we can see, has taken electrification as a major policy focus and the thinking now is the urgent need to establish a sustainable industrial base in the rural areas of the state to arrest the rural-urban drift syndrome and provide a catalyst for industrial growth of small and medium scale industries. Such policy drive will provide  a conducive atmosphere for employment generation and poverty alleviation at the grassroots.
Government should be faithful in the implementation of its development policies, especially as it concerns electrification projects conceived as prime movers with multiplier effects in various catchment areas of the state. The rise in power consumption has assumed a progressive surge since the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970 and the national grid has become weak and fragile to cope with the insatiable power demands, so there is the need to revolutionise the concept of gas turbine power plant application as an alternative power generation system to the wailing and dwindling national grid now in the control or hands of private power distributors.
The Rivers State government, beginning from the Odili’s administration to Amaechi’s regime has spent billions of  Naira to acquire, install and operate four gas turbine power generating plants but the power supply situation has not witnessed or produced any positive result. It is important that before this administration continues to invest in power supply, it should find out the actual cause of the problems and factors militating  against power generation and distribution in the state. These problems underscore the necessity for the on-going probe so as to know the way forward in the state’s power sector. Governor Wike’s decision is in order.
The reason for the probe is not far-fetched because we don’t have to remain stagnant  and expect things to normalise without certain decisions backed with actions.
More than 75 per cent of the power transmission / distribution infrastructure on the national grid in the state were constructed and funded by the Rivers State government  without any refunds from the federal government or the agencies concerned after commissioning. In adding, other payments have been disbursed to the power agencies for supply / installation of distribution transformers but all these efforts have yielded no satisfactory result.
Rivers State is playing host to a number of strategic and heavy power consuming industries with already congested radial feeder which is grossly inadequate to meet the ever-rising power demands in the state, so it has become expedient if not compelling that the Federal Government commences work on the construction of more transmission infrastructure to improve power flow into Rivers State. The Rivers State Government in collaboration with oil companies in the state such as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Agip, Total and others should work out ways of providing constant power to the rural communities through gas turbine plants.
Investments in gas turbine power generating electrification scheme is a profitable venture, not in terms of cash returns, but will continue to attract favourable consideration as a reliable power plant in the state. The operation of gas turbine as a power plant permits wider flexibility in fuel application, improves system stability under designed load and holds good hope for low capital investments per megawatt output in the long-term. It is understood that major electricity generation / supply industry activities are replete with difficult problems and sometimes unpredictable failures requiring immediate remedial actions to address the incipient faults through efficient maintenance of all power system plants and equipment. This requires the total commitment of government in training skilled manpower and staff mobility as well as handling the challenges in equipment and gas delivery.
Attention must be given to poor maintenance culture and power equipment replacement policy caused by the former administration. There is no gainsaying that one of the most effective means of power generation in the world today is through the use of gas turbine engine, but it is capital intensive and very expensive to maintain.
Therefore, one sure way of sustaining the present Rivers State government-owned gas turbine projects is through a well-articulated revenue generation system.
Gas turbine engines are made to function non-stop for about 30,000 hours (4 years) before it is due for major servicing. So, by implication, consumers are expected to have an uninterrupted power supply for four years. This makes it mandatory for beneficiaries of the project to pay the required revenue in order to ensure sustainability of the project.
Certainly, consumers would be pleased to pay when they begin to enjoy steady power supply. By doing that, the state government has to enact a legislation for power generation, transmission and use in the state.  This will ensure uninterrupted power supply in Rivers State just like in the advanced countries.

Shedie Okpara