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Transcorp, GE partner to improve power generation

By BusinessNews Staff on January 31, 2014

Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited, the subsidiary of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, and General Electric have signed an agreement to expand the capacity of the Ughelli power plant by 1,000 megawatts over the next three to five years.

Both parties have also signed a separate agreement to rehabilitate the damaged GT 15 turbine at the Ughelli plant, which will add 115MW to the plant’s output, according to a statement made available on Thursday.

The agreements were signed at a closed-door meeting between executives of both companies led by the Chairman, Transcorp, Mr. Tony Elumelu; and the Global Chairman, General Electric, Jeffrey Immelt. This followed a cooperation agreement executed by Transcorp and GE in 2013.

The statement added that the Ughelli plant was currently generating 360MW of electricity, up from 160MW on November 1, 2013 when Transcorp took ownership of the plant.

“With the additional 115MW as well as other rehabilitation works planned at the plant, output at Ughelli will increase to 700MW by December 2014,” the company stated.

The company said in the statement, “The plant is Nigeria’s largest gas-fired electricity generation asset. Purchased by Transcorp during the 2013 power privatisation programme, the $300m plant is part of the $2.5bn investment pledge made by the Chairman of Transcorp and Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, to deliver affordable and accessible power to Africa under the Power Africa Initiative.

“Heirs Holdings, Elumelu’s pan-African proprietary investment company, is Power Africa’s largest private sector investor and a major investor in Transcorp.”

Elumelu was quoted as saying, “We are very pleased to work with GE, a proven world leader in power technology development, on the Ughelli plant expansion project. With this, we’ve taken a bold step in fulfilling our promise to Transcorp’s stakeholders and the people of Nigeria.

[Punch]

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