Barely a week after Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki visited the site that will host the 55 Megawatts CCETC-Ossiomo Power plant in Ologbo, near Benin City, the governor said that transmission equipment; transformers, cables, supply lines amongst others, have sailed out of China, heading to Edo State. According to Obaseki, “the latest information made available to me by those tracking the movement of the equipment from China, said the transmission cables, transformers and other supply infrastructure have sailed out of China and heading to Nigeria.
“I have also been told that work is being fast-tracked on the 55-Megawatt power plant, which is coming from Saudi Arabia, to be positioned for sail out.” The governor explained that “the current cycle of darkness foisted on electricity consumers in Edo State by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) is killing businesses and ruining social activities,” assuring that a new era is in the horizon with his administration’s bold initiatives. He further said the April date for the commissioning of the first phase (5 Megawatts) of the project is realistic as the project partners are intensifying work on site.
Recall that after a tour of the site last week, Obaseki told journalists that “We believe that before the end of the first quarter of the year, the first 5MW would be delivered to light up government offices and streets within the Sapele Road corridor of Benin City.” He explained that “to ease distribution of the power, a substation would be set up around Kings Square, which would power streets in the city.” The governor added: “We are concluding transaction to light up 200 Kilometres of our streets across the city. When the plant is completed, it will free up some electricity for the state. We believe that if the megawatts produced increase, the distribution company will have more power to distribute to other cities in the state.
“The ordinary Edo people will benefit from this power arrangement because there is an arrangement to drop power in certain processing centres where artisans can move into and do their businesses with the assurance of steady power supply.”
