The Oyo State Government has commenced an independent power project to provide electricity to government facilities within the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan and its environs.
This was revealed in a statement by the Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, released via his twitter page on Saturday.
“Earlier today, we flagged off the Oyo State Independent Power Project. The 11MW hybrid power plant is being executed by Elektron Energy on a Build-Operate-Transfer model.
“It will provide power to government facilities within the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan and environs,” he tweeted.
In his statement, the Governor dispelled the notions that only the Federal Government could distribute energy, and that any power generated at the state or local level must be fed to the national grid before it can be distributed.
Citing Section 67(1) of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005, which provides that, “Subject to such terms and conditions as the National Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) may fix in the licence, a distribution license will authorize the licensee to construct, operate and maintain a distribution system and facilities…” the Governor maintained that independent power distribution is legal.
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Makinde stated that “based on this, the Oyo State Government is entering into a contract with Elektron Energy to finance and develop an 11MW hybrid power solution for the Oyo State Government, and some of its facilities within the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan and environs.”
The Special Purpose Vehicle that Elektron Energy will use to execute this contract is Ibadan Hybrid Power Limited (IH Power). IH Power will also be responsible for managing the distribution infrastructure through Ibadan Hybrid Distribution Limited, which will hold an Independent Electricity Distribution Network (IEDN) license,” he continued.
The proposed 11MW hybrid power solution comprises of 10MW gas-fired power generation and a 1MW PV solar solution.
According to the Governor, the 11MW hybrid power solution will power; 12 healthcare facilities, including Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital, State Hospital Ring Road, the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, the judicial complexes at Iyaganku and Ring Road, the state’s House of Assembly, and a selection of schools within a defined catchment from the generation plant at the Oyo State Secretariat.
“This IPP will also power not less 10km radius of public lighting under the ‘Light-Up Oyo’ project,” he continued.
Makinde also assured that while the present project will initially serve government facilities, other projects “to facilitate the expansion of the state’s economic base by making power available to industrial catchments,” are also being considered.
The total cost of the project which is to run for eight months is pegged at over eight billion naira (N8,027,430,214 ).
