Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited on Tuesday said the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission had renewed the power generation licence for the Afam VI Power Plant.
The SPDC said in a statement that the 650 megawatts plant had delivered over 25.97 million megawatts hour of electricity into the nation’s power grid since inception in 2008.
Afam VI, which is owned by the SPDC Joint Venture, is located in Afam in Oyigbo Local Government area of Rivers State.
Presenting the renewed licence to the company in Abuja, the Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, NERC, Mr. Dafe Akpeneye, described the SPDC JV as a committed partner in the Nigerian power sector, adding the firm’s belief in the sector and its resolve to help it develop were remarkable.
“We hope for greater efficiency and improved operations from Afam VI in the next 10-year phase of your operation, just as we look forward to working together to resolve some of the challenging issues in the power sector,” he said.
The General Manager, Gas, SPDC, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, described Afam VI as worthy of emulation by the government and other players in the power sector.
“Here’s a power plant with a dedicated gas plant operating with high uptime, generating clean and efficient power from the combined cycle of three gas and one steam turbines,” he stated.
He said the challenges of debt, power evacuation and off-take had prevented the plant from delivering optimally at 15 per cent of the total national grid-connected electricity.
According to the statement, Afam VI uses combined cycle gas turbine technology that burns 40 per cent less gas than plants using older open cycle technologies, contributing significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.