The abandoned OMA Power Project may eventually see the light of the day following the enquiry made by the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, during his visit to Geometric Power Limited Aba, recently.
Mills, according to a press release from Geometric had expressed interest about the future of the 1,080MW plant being built by Geometric in partnership with U.S -based General Electric, before it stalled due to socio-political challenges.
In response to the U.S. envoy’s enquiry, the Chairman of Geometric, Professor Bart Nnaji expressed readiness to revive the venture, noting the potential of the project to significantly boost Nigeria’s electricity supply if the right conditions were met.
Mills, who led a team of top U.S embassy officials on facility tour of the Aba Independent Power Project located at Osisioma industrial layout, was impressed that Geometric was built to international standard.
“This is world-class, reflecting the kind of innovation and commitment needed to address Nigeria’s energy challenges,” he said, underscoring America’s interest in Nigeria’s energy future.
Mills noted that “Nigerians are globally known for their creativity and talent (and) “this power plant is a perfect example of that”.
Among the people on the Ambassador’s team were Rick Swart, the U.S Consul General in Lagos; Mike Ervin, Chief of the Political and Economic section of the embassy, and Julie McKay, the Chief of Public Diplomacy.
The facilities the American delegation inspected included the turbines from General Electric, the world’s biggest and oldest electricity equipment manufacturing firm which is based in the United States.
They also inspected the state-of-the-art digital SCADA facilities used in the distribution and management of electricity in all Geometric Power’s 30 feeders.
In addition, the Ambassador and his team were shown the company’s massive steel tubular poles comparable to the poles in San Francisco, California, and Tokyo, Japan, which are earthquake prone.
Prof Nnaji explained that though no natural disasters like earthquake has ever been recorded in the Aba Ring-fenced Area served by Aba Power, the tubular poles were installed as precaution for eventualities.
“We installed them to ensure that Aba and its environs would continue to have uninterrupted power in the event of a natural disaster,” the Geometric Power Chairman said.
The Aba Ring-fenced Area served by Geometric, Nigeria’s first integrated power form, comprises nine of Abia’s 17 local governments spread within Abia South zone and half of Abia Central.
According to Nnaji, a former Minister of Power and globally respected engineering researcher in the U.S before he returned to Nigeria, the tubular poles are mounted with base 10 metres deep into the ground to withstand extreme elements.
He also revealed that Geometric Power was working with international companies to develop new power projects to boost Nigeria’s energy security.
The ambassador commended Geometric Power for its end-to-end business model which makes it the only Nigerian power group that generates power and distributes to a dedicated area.
