BusinessDay

Transcorp increases power generation to national grid

...commissions rehabilitated GT Unit 20

TransAfam Power Ltd, a subsidiary of Transcorp Group, has announced the completion of the rehabilitation of its Afam 5 GT unit 20 Gas Turbine power-generating unit located at Okoloma – Afam, Ndoki in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The rehabilitated unit, which has been successfully commissioned and synchronised to the national grid, has brought an additional 138MW to its existing capacity.

Vincent Ozoude, MD/CEO of Transafam Power Limited who announced this, also expressed delight about the newly rehabilitated unit, which he said was able to power up to 100,000 homes in a year.

“Since the administrative handover of the Afam Power Plant in March 2021, we have been working diligently to realise the full potential of the plant. We are pleased to have successfully completed the rehabilitation of GT20, having been out of service for over 15 years prior to our takeover. We are glad to have achieved this feat, using a combination of our in-house resources and other local technical support, with about 20percent of foreign expert support in the rehabilitation project, showing our commitment to local content development,” Ozoude said.

According to him, “It is impressive how far we have come from 48MW average generation, when we took over, to raising production to 120 MW generation within the first two months.”

Ozoude also expressed appreciation to the company’s host community, Okoloma-Ndoki, and other stakeholders.

Owen Omogiafo, president and Group CEO of Transcorp, who was accompanied by the members of the Technical Committee of the Board of Directors, expressed delight at the commissioning of the rehabilitated Afam 5 GT 20 power generating unit, stressing its significance to Transcorp Group and their commitment to transforming the power sector in Nigeria.

“Our purpose at Transcorp Group is to Improve Lives and Transform Africa, one investment at time. We are pleased at the progress we are making to expand access to electricity in Nigeria through our investments in the power sector,” Omogiafo said.

“You cannot achieve sustainable economic transformation without reliable power supply. It is that understanding that has led us at Transcorp, under the leadership of our Group Chairman, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu CFR to invest in the power sector. We are happy with the progress we are making in our power plants and strive to continue to optimise our available generation capacity, with improved gas supply, which has become increasingly challenging.

“We will also continue to build our local capacity by investing in human capital development and positive engagement with our host communities and stakeholders” Omogiafo added.

Transcorp Group had in 2013, through its power subsidiary, Transcorp Power Limited (TPL), acquired the 972MW gas-fired Ughelli Power Plant, which has since been phenomenally transformed. With the acquisition of Afam Power Plc, Transcorp has further cemented its position as a key player in the power sector.