NNPC, US Agency Sign $1.16m Grant For New Abuja Power Plant

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) have signed a $1.16 million grant as part funding for the NNPC-Abuja Independent Power Project (IPP) modelled to generate 1,350 megawatts of electricity to alleviate the power challenge in the country. The signing between the NNPC, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and General Electric took place Tuesday morning at the ongoing Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja. The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, said the plan by the corporation to build the 1,350mw power plant in Abuja was part of the national strategy to monetize the abundant natural gas resources in the country. The USTDA grant will complement the ongoing feed project in order to make the Abuja IPP initiative more bankable for strategic investors’ participation. The Abuja 1,350mw Independent Power Plant (IPP) project would leverage on the existing huge natural gas resources from the NNPC upstream and the proposed AKK gas pipeline. The project would sit on a 54.7 hectares of land in Dukpa in Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT. NNPC has begun Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the proposed plant to be located in Gwagwalada, Abuja.