President Bola Tinubu is set to inaugurate Geometric Power’s 188-megawatt (MW) thermal power plant in Osisioma Industrial Layout, Aba, Abia State, on Monday, February 27. The plant was originally scheduled for inauguration on Saturday, February 24, but the new date was chosen by the Presidency in Abuja due to unexpected developments.
During the inauguration, President Tinubu will also commission Aba Power Limited, which will receive electricity from the new plant and distribute it to nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State.
The $800 million integrated power project by Geometric Power includes the construction of a 188MW thermal power plant, a 27km natural gas pipeline from Owaza in Ukwa West Local Government Area to the Osisioma Industrial Layout in Aba, the installation of 150,000km of cables and wires, and the installation of four new power substations, as well as the refurbishment of three others inherited from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
Cliff Eneh, an energy consultant in Lagos, expressed pride in the support the Federal Government has been giving to Geometric Power Integrated Company, which will generate and distribute its power.
“We are proud of the support the Federal Government has of late been giving to the Geometric Power Integrated Company that will generate and distribute its power,” Eneh said.
Geometric Power Group was founded by Professor Bart Nnaji, Nigeria’s former Minister of Science and Technology and later Minister of Power. Nnaji embarked on the integrated project after the then World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, and former Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, visited Aba on March 17, 2004, and discovered that the greatest challenge facing both large-scale and medium-scale industrialists in Aba was the epileptic power supply.