Hope has brightened that light may soon be restored in parts of Ondo State, especially the Ondo South Senatorial District which has been in blackout for over ten years as new sets of German-made reciprocating gas engines to augment power supply in the state, which were ordered by the state government in partnership with a private firm, are on the way.
The acting governor of the state, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, is expected to receive the equipment which will expectedly assure regular power supply statewide as necessary support for socioeconomic activities and solve the problem of blackout that has been frustrating, productivity, investments and economic activities in the state particularly in the Ondo South Senatorial District and other locations around the state.
The Akeredolu-Aiyedatiwa government is hopeful that a successful off-grid or captive power project in the state will free up more megawatts of electricity from the national grid for the use of people and productive clusters across the state.
The state government was said to have embarked on direct interventions through a public-private partnership (PPP) to arrest the drift, with such interventions yielding positive results.
As gathered by Tribune, the arrival and delivery of the first sets of reciprocating gas engines ordered for the Alagbaka Independent Power Plant (IPP), a critical power intervention project in Akure, will soon be completed.
The plant is to be operated by Alagbaka Power Limited, a joint venture between the Ondo State Government and Advad Nigeria Limited.
A staff member of the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity disclosed that the new gas engines and associated balance of plant facilities worth over N7.8b were seen being offloaded earlier in the week at the power plant located in Akure.
According to him, “The first set of engines will generate over 3 MW, while the plant itself can scale up to over 16 MW and more in the future, with the potential to feed some of the government-owned housing estates such as Ijapo, Oba-ile, and Alagbaka GRA.”.
It was discovered that the Ministry of Energy and the Ondo State Electricity Board at the Alagbaka IPP project were one of about 36 power intervention programmes across the state that were awarded by the Ondo State Technical Committee on Electricity led by Engr. Olatunji Ariyomo when he was the Special Adviser on Energy to Governor Akeredolu before his exit from the government in 2021.
Some of the projects that are in advanced stages of financial closure include the Okitipupa IPP, which is designed to power the state-owned university and most-deprived parts of Okitipupa and Igbokoda, as well as the Owo and Ondo town IPPs.
While the Akure intervention, as well as the IPPs meant for Okitipupa, Ondo town, and Owo, are gas-fired, the state has taken the lead with several power projects using a hybrid of gas and solar.
Some of the completed solar hybrid IPPs are located in Ala-Elefosan, Odonla, Ugbonla, Obejedo, Lomileju, and Gbagira, among others.
According to the newspaper, a staff member of the Ondo State Electricity Board, Adesina Ogooluwa, disclosed that Ondo State had executed the highest number of independent power projects of any other state in Nigeria.
“We have done over 23 hybrid solar mini-grids even before Oga Tunji left government. These are in towns and communities that have never had electricity since Nigeria was founded.
“Under Akeredolu, Engr. Tunji Light Ariyomo led us to pass a full-fledged power sector law, the first completely independent state power sector law in Nigeria. We were the first to set up a State Electricity Regulatory Commission in Nigeria. We were the first to issue legitimate licences to power companies outside NERC in Nigeria’s history.
“When some people thought the Disco owners could challenge us in court, they were shocked to see that the Nigerian constitution empowered the state to do all that we have done.
“The recent amendments made to the constitutions have now shown that the path we took with the electricity market reform in Ondo State is the correct path. Other states are now copying our law.”
It will be recalled that Akeredolu had, in December 2020, assented to the Ondo State Power Sector Law (2020), thus becoming the first governor to assent to a totally independent state power sector law in Nigeria.
The law, unlike what was done with the Lagos State Embedded Power Law, effectively invoked constitutional provisions that empowered states of the federation to generate, transmit, distribute, and regulate power in areas outside the national grid without recourse to the central government.
The law established an independent local electricity regulatory commission for the state and made extensive allowances for electricity investment protection and the energy market in the state.
The law also leveraged the constitutional protection for consumers to create opportunities to improve service delivery in areas within the grid. The amendment to the federal constitution in February 2023, which decentralised the electricity market, further entrenched the position of Ondo State.
The acting governor, Aiyedatiwa, while representing Akeredolu at the foundation-laying ceremony of one of the mini-grid power plants in June 2021, said the current administration in the state would not relent in creating the enabling environment for businesses and investments to thrive in Ondo State.
Aiyedatiwa is expected to formally receive and inspect the newly delivered multi-billion-naira power equipment at the site of the new IPP in Akure.
