By Taiye Odewale
Abuja
Senate ‘s Joint Committee on Gas and Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, headed by Bassey Albert and Enyinnaya Abaribe, respectively, has ordered the suspension of the planned commissioning of the 215 megawatts Kaduna power plant over inconsistencies in the contract implementation.
The committee, which gave the order following a one day investigative hearing on the “Urgent need to save the 215 MW Kaduna power plant”, also frowned at the exorbitant N46million diesel planned to be powering the plant on daily basis .
They were alarmed to hear that the cost would be far cheaper if the plant is to run on gas.
The power plant, which was inaugurated in 2009, is already three years behind the scheduled commissioning.
The lawmakers said they were unimpressed by the reasons given by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Mr. Louis Edozie, who defended the change of the parameters of the plant from a gas powered plant to diesel powered plant.
Representatives of the Power Ministry, led by the Permanent Secretary, had told the committee that the ministry planned to commission one of the eight units in the plant in January and that the unit would run on diesel.
Chairman of GreenVille LNG, Eddy Van Den Broeke, who led his team to address the committee, said that the company had a memorandum of understanding with the Kaduna gas plant to build storage facilities for the plant at no cost, explaining that, while the plant would produce a kilowatt of electricity at N79 if run on diesel, it will produce the same kilowatt of power at N37.
He said that his company had, as a result of the MoU it signed with the power plant, invested the sum of $400 million on its gas plant in Roumuji, Port Harcourt.
He said that apart from the functional gas plant, Greenville already imported 250 trucks meant to evacuate gas to the power plant before the change of parameters by the ministry.
The committee was told that the Ministry decided to change the parametres of the Plant from Gas, which was the original design to diesel, which will eventually jerk up the cost of power at the plant.
Co chairman of the joint committee, Albert Bassey told the Permanent Secretary to inform the Minister of Power, Works and Housing that the Senate has put a stop at the planned commissioning adding: “I feel very disappointed.”
