Story from Abah ADAH, Abuja
The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Limited says it has been forced to shutdown4, it’s 504 Mega Watts (MW) Alaoji Power Plant in Imo State following an attack on the gas pipeline of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited.
According to a statement by Head, Communication & Public Relations, NDPHC, Emmanuel Ojor, in Abuja on Monday, TotalEnergies declared a Force Majeure as a result of the vandalism of NOPL Line at KP41 on January 7, 2022.
Alaoji Power Plant is one of the 10 plants under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), owned and managed by the government-funded NDPHC, localised in the Niger Delta part of Nigeria, close to gas sources.
The company had built a $900m, 24-inch pipeline infrastructure covering 50km to make sure that it will supply gas to the Alaoji Power Station located in the Abia State, Nigeria. The pipeline infrastructure begins from Oil Mining Lease (OML) to Imo River, and finally to the 964MW Alaoji Power Station.
The statement explained further that consequent upon the vandalisation of its NOPL Line vandalisation at KP41 on January 7, 2022, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited had to declare the Force Majeure.
According to TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited in a letter to the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC), “NOPL pipeline was vandalized on 7th January 2022 at KP41 Alaoma Etche Cluster.
The Line Block Valve at KP38 was closed to isolate the sabotage point and depressurization of the line, this will affect gas supply to Alaoji (Power Plant) until further notice.
As a result of this development, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited stated that “Gas supply to Alaoji Power Plant was suspended due to this unfortunate event. Preliminary investigation to determine the extent of the damage is ongoing, and repair works shall commence as soon as feasible.”
Consequently, the Management of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Limited has announced with regret the shutdown of 504MW Alaoji Power Plant on January 7, 2022.
Recall that Omotosho NIPP was shut down last month when Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) due to system-wide curtailment of all gas shippers (gas producers/off-takers) by Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) “to forestall the imminent collapse of the gas grid.” NGC said at the time that the Trans-Forcardos Pipeline (TFP), belonging to NGC was breached on December 17, 2021.
That breach led to the deferment of about 250MMscfd of gas from the Pipeline Network, a situation that brought the Network Pressure to abysmal levels, thereby triggering an emergency.
The curtailment impacted operations of NDPHC negatively with Omotosho NIPP being shut down and gas supply to GEREGU NIPP and Ihovbor NIPP also limited thus leading to part load or low generation from these available power plants.
The Management of NDPHC however assures electricity customers served from that source that Alaoji Power Plant and others will resume power generation as soon as gas supply is restored.
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