Alison-Madueke inaugurates Three Gas Turbines

Fri, Jan 16, 2015

By publisher

2 MIN READ

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The federal government is implementing measures to ensure that the refineries work effectively including inaugurating three newly-built gas turbines

DIEZANI Alison-Madueke, minister of Petroleum Resources, is to commission three 25 megawatts gas turbines, installed and operated by an independent power producer, to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited, PHRC. The initiative is part of pragmatic measures to ensure continuous and unimpeded refining of petroleum products in PHRC.

Gregory Udoh, group executive director, Refining and Petrochemical of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, who made this known in Abuja also said the arrangement with the independent power producers was aimed at ensuring steady power supply to the refinery adding that staff of PHRC would now focus majorly on the core mandate of refining petroleum products for members of the public. He said more than 60 percent of the Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, materials have been delivered to PHRC, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, KRPC, and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, WRPC, and installation of such equipment and parts are in progress.

Udoh said that crude supply to the PHRC was now through marine vessels, bypassing the implacable activities of oil thieves along the Bonny to PHRC crude supply pipeline.

Similarly, Bafred Enjugu, managing director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited, has said that the turnaround maintenance of the refinery is ongoing and the facility is running optimally. According to him, as at today, the plant is refining premium motor spirit, dual purpose kerosene, automotive gas oil and other petroleum products.

Enjugu stated that the company through public private partnership arrangement has resolved the power problem of the facility, adding that the three gas turbines installed by the partnership have the capacity to generate 72 megawatts of power which exceeds the 23 megawatts requirement of PHRC.

On his part, Ralph Ugwu, executive director Services of the PHRC, maintained that the PHRC remains the oldest, largest and newest refinery in the country.

It should be recalled that in 2011, the decision was made to rehabilitate all refineries using the original refinery builder, ORG, but the ORBs declined participation which led to a phased rehabilitation of all refineries, simultaneously and in more easily manageable bits and packages over a period of 18 months, according to a statement issue by Ohi Alegbe, group general manger, Group Public Affairs Division.

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