The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) has restored 450 megawatts (MWs) to the national grid after completing scheduled maintenance on the Geregu NIPP plant, marking one of its most significant generation recoveries in recent years.
With the restoration of the 225 MW Gbarain facility also underway, a combined 675 MW would be added to the national grid in a short period.
The four-week extended minor inspection on Geregu, carried out by Siemens Energy, was undertaken to improve the plant’s operational reliability, performance and efficiency, while also extending its equivalent operating hours (EOH) and overall lifespan.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NDPHC, Jennifer Adighije, said the latest recovery formed part of a broader turnaround effort that has seen the company revive six previously dormant gas turbines across its fleet in the last year.
The turbines include GT4 at Calabar NIPP, GT1 at Omotosho II, GT1 and GT2 at Benin NIPP, GT4 at Sapele NIPP and GT3 and GT4 at Alaoji NIPP, which are now on standby for pre-commissioning after gas supply remedial works.
She said the restored units would collectively deliver an additional 875MW to the company’s mechanical available generation capacity, providing a crucial boost to the national power supply.
Adighije also announced the commencement of recovery works on the 225MW Gbarain NIPP plant in Bayelsa, which has been out of service since 2020. She described the project as a major step toward restoring dormant national power assets and commercialising the plant’s output to serve industrial and commercial clusters within the Niger Delta region.
She noted that NDPHC has continued to achieve operational and financial milestones despite prevailing sector-wide constraints. These include the recovery of 110 containers holding critical turbine parts and HRSG components abandoned for more than nine years at Onne Port, as well as the commencement of the Light Up Nigeria Agbara industrial cluster project, designed to connect the Agbara Industrial Estate to the grid and a 10MW embedded solar project for an industrial area in Kano. The company has also completed key transmission and distribution projects in Borno and Delta States, along with the Afam–Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line.
Other achievements she highlighted include the recovery of more than $10 million in legacy debts from bilateral customers and securing $15 million in insurance claims following the Alaoji plant fire incident.
She added that NDPHC is in advanced discussions with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) regarding recovery of its investments in TCN’s transmission expansion projects, and has resolved longstanding commercial issues with ACCUGAS, which led to an amended gas supply agreement that reduces government exposure.
To reinforce accountability and improve staff welfare, the company has introduced a procurement benchmarking desk, computer-based testing for employee performance management and a management support allowance to ease the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
Adighije reaffirmed the company’s commitment to “restoring dormant capacity, stabilising operations, and supporting Nigeria’s goal of a more reliable and sustainable power supply value chain.”
She added that the management remains dedicated to transparency, accountability and continuous stakeholder engagement in pursuit of universal electricity access for powering households and businesses across the country.
