VANGUARD

THE Delta State government has approved the establishment of three independent power plants at Ozoro, Warri and Agbor to boost electricity supply in the state.

The state Commissioner for Energy,  Jonathan Ukodiko who disclosed this yesterdya at Oleh, Isoko South Local Government Area, during the Conference of the Isoko Development Union, IDU, said the state government was pursuing a legislation that would empower it and private sectors to generate and transmit electricity to all parts of the state.

He said: “Right now we are putting that bill together and we will send it to the governor who will then send it to the House of Assembly to pass it into law.

“Let us try and encourage private individuals and companies that have the money to spend to build power plants, to transmit and distribute. Our amiable governor has approved three Independent Power Plants to be located in Ozoro, Warri and Agbor.

“Presently, different companies have indicated interest. The government is not going to spend any money on it.  In fact government doesn’t have a business in doing business. We are not going to spend any money in building these power plants.

“The only thing that we are going to do is to buy all the power that is going to be produced, that is, we are going to stand as a guarantor, that if these people are unable to pay for the power, we will pay for it. And as I am talking to you, more than 10 companies have indicated interest to build each of those locations.

“It is now left for us to choose which have the capacity and wherewithal to build the plants. Those are just only three places that we count but we believe that as time goes on we should be able to spread it all over the state. It is not only just to build those power plants but we also want to create energy hubs.

“What are the energy hubs? The government will acquire about 10 to 20 hectares of land in each of those locations and about 30 percent of the energy that will be generated will be sent to those places for people to come and build industries.”

“Once these industries are in place, they will be able to generate employment, they will be able to generate IGR for the state and they will be able to grow the economy of the state. That is how far we have gone and by God’s grace before the end of the tenure of this administration those three power plants will begin to run. “That is why we are looking at companies that can deliver the projects within six months, so that it can work before we leave office.”