After nine days of electricity outage in the Aba Ring-fenced Area, comprising nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State, electricity supply to the area has finally been restored.

Edise Ekong, the Aba Power Brand and Communications Manager, said in a statement on Saturday that power was restored at about 5 a.m. immediately after gas pressure to the turbines reached 40 bars.

He said, “No one in either Aba Power or the entire Geometric Power Group slept last night as we were anticipating the resumption of natural gas supply from Heirs Energies, the operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17, which provides gas to the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in the Osisioma Industrial Area of Aba.”

The Geometric Power Plant, in turn, provides electricity to Aba Power, Nigeria’s 12th electricity distribution company, popularly known as a DisCo, which is a member of the Geometric Power Group. This makes Geometric Power Nigeria’s foremost integrated electricity company.

Though reputed to be the only place in Nigeria with regular electricity since Vice President Kashim Shettima commissioned the Aba Integrated Power Project two years ago, power supply to Aba and its environs was disrupted following the collapse of the clutch gear and starter motor, components of the Associated Gas Gathering (AGG) facilities at Obigbo in Rivers State, belonging to Heirs Energies, a new but rapidly growing indigenous oil and gas company.

According to Dike Ejike, a mechanical engineer and power consultant who has been monitoring the state and performance of gas facilities in the Eastern Nigerian corridor, the clutch gear and starter motor, critical components responsible for pressurising gas flow, collapsed nine days ago due to old age.

He explained that, “The gas facilities in places like Rivers and Abia states were installed between 50 and 60 years ago,” the engineer told newsmen in Abuja last week.

“This means that most of the parts and equipment are no longer produced. The implication is that Heirs Energies deserves commendation for finding a replacement clutch gear and starter motor in the United States and desperately flying them into Nigeria within a few days.”

Meanwhile, Aba Power Managing Director, Ugo Opiegbe, lauded “individuals, businesses and groups in Aba for their understanding, patience and solidarity during this period of acute trial and tribulation for all of us.”

He said, “Groups like the Abia State Amalgamated Traders Association, led by Chief Alphonsus Udeigbo; Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association, led by Engr Leo Onyemesiri; Abia State Association of Small and Medium Industrialists; and the Abia State branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria were exploring ways to assist in getting gas supply to the Geometric Power Plant for the benefit of all.

“Of course, Governor Alex Otti, the Abia State Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Engr Ikechukwu Monday, and the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Commission left no stone unturned to solve this problem.

“We were delighted to receive last week, in flesh and blood, the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on Power and Public Utilities, led by Hon Aaron Uzodike and Hon Stephen Akachukwu Ucheonye, at our premises in their determination to end the gas crisis.”

Mr Opiegbe assured electricity consumers in the Aba Ring-fenced Area of “constant, quality and affordable electricity” following the restoration of gas supply to the plant. (Nigerian Tribune)