Transcorp inaugurates GE unit at Ughelli Plant

The Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc has inaugurated its power plant located at Ughelli following GE Nigeria’s successful undertaking of a complicated flange to flange replacement of the gas turbine, replacing the old PG 9151 unit with a more efficient PG 9171 unit, which is equipped with a remote monitoring and control system. This is the first time a flange to flange replacement was carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa.

When the Transcorp Power Plant in Ughelli, Delta State, was bought by the Transnational Corporation Group in 2013 it had a capacity of 160MW due to an out of service gas turbine.

The procedure made use of a more than 100 local contractors and workers. The plant, which is now operating with a capacity of 620MW can supply power to up to 2.4-million Nigerian homes.

The commissioning of the new unit was attended by Transcorp Group Chairman Tony Elumelu, who said: “GE has been a great partner for Transcorp in getting this unit online. The reactivity and the commitment of the local teams have been remarkable. This illustrates our determination to invest in critical infrastructure, despite the ?current macro conditions. We appreciate GE’s assistance in Transcorp Power’s mission to light up Nigeria.”

At the event, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, sais that “Feats as we are witnessing today put to bed some of the uninformed comments that stakeholders have not done anything.” He added that his ministry was focused on enhancing power distribution in the country.

Ahmad Zakari, Executive Service Director for GE Power Services Nigeria, said “The new unit comes with a higher efficiency output of 33 per cent compared to older units that perform at 28 per cent. This readily translates into important savings for the customer as less gas is needed to produce the same output.”

The new unit also enables operators to predict and analyze operations from the plant control room, resulting in a reduction in manual interventions, which in turn reduces the associated safety risks.

“GE has been consistent in its commitment to continue to invest and grow local capabilities in the country and the continent. Every day, our local teams break new frontiers as they support customers with efficient technical support that would otherwise have come from outside sources,” said Zakari.