Nigeria’s National Petroleum Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Engineering and Machinery Corporation (CEMC) to build a gas power plant near the capital, Abuja.
Posting on X, the company said the deal for the 350MW Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant (GIPP) had been signed on Thursday by Olalekan Ogunleye, its vice president for gas power, and Zhang Daguang, chairman of CEMC Nigeria.
The plant will be connected to the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project, which will be part of the Trans Nigeria Gas Pipeline.
Nigerian National Petroleum was in Beijing to attend the China–Africa Cooperation Summit.
It said in its post: “Upon completion, GIPP Phase 1 is expected to improve power generation, create job opportunities, reduce gas flaring and engender industrial development.”
The $2.9bn AKK pipeline will run for 614km from Ajaokuta to Kano. It is intended to connect up pipeline networks in the north, east and west of the country, and to carry enough gas to produce up to 3.6GW of energy. This will support industrialisation in central and northern Nigeria.
Business website Nairametrics commented that the pipeline would reduce deforestation by offering an alternative energy source for power generation, cooking, transportation and industrial use in Abuja, Kaduna and Kano.
Some 85% of the finance for the pipeline is being arranged by the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation. Work on the line began in June 2020 and will complete in the first quarter of next year.
- Subscribe here to get stories about construction around the world in your inbox three times a week.
Further reading:
