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The Oyo State Government has commenced an independent power project to provide electricity to government facilities within the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, and its environs.
Governor Seyi Makinde disclosed this in a statement released via his Facebook page on Saturday.
“Earlier today, we flagged off the Oyo State Independent Power Project. The 11MW hybrid power plant is being executed by Elektron Energy on a Build-Operate-Transfer model.
“It will provide power to government facilities within the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan and environs,” he said.
Makinde dispelled the notion that only the Federal Government could distribute energy, and that any power generated at the state or local level must be fed to the national grid before it can be distributed.
Citing Section 67(1) of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005, which provides that, “Subject to such terms and conditions as the National Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) may fix in the licence, a distribution license will authorize the licensee to construct, operate and maintain a distribution system and facilities,” the governor emphasised that independent power distribution is legal.
“Based on this, the Oyo State Government is entering into a contract with Elektron Energy to finance and develop an 11MW hybrid power solution for the Oyo State Government, and some of its facilities within the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan and environs.
“The Special Purpose Vehicle that Elektron Energy will use to execute this contract is Ibadan Hybrid Power Limited (IH Power). IH Power will also be responsible for managing the distribution infrastructure through Ibadan Hybrid Distribution Limited, which will hold an Independent Electricity Distribution Network (IEDN) license,” he added.
The proposed 11MW hybrid power solution comprises of 10MW gas-fired power generation and a 1MW PV solar solution.
According to Makinde, the 11MW hybrid power solution will power 12 healthcare facilities, including Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital;State Hospital, Ring Road; Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba; judicial complexes at Iyaganku and Ring Road; state’s House of Assembly; and a selection of schools within a defined catchment from the generation plant at the Oyo State Secretariat.
“This IPP will also power not less 10km radius of public lighting under the ‘Light-Up Oyo’ project,” he said
Makinde also assured that while the present project will initially serve government facilities, other projects “to facilitate the expansion of the state’s economic base by making power available to industrial catchments,” are also being considered.
The total cost of the project which is to run for eight months over N8 billion.