Be ready to pay for 24-hour power supply – Governor tells residents
Be ready to pay for 24-hour power supply – Governor tells residents
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has assured the residents of the state of readiness of the state’s Independent Power Plant (IPP) to ensure 24-hour power supply by end of the year, as six out of eight new 60mw gas turbines procured by the state government arrived the state.
Speaking when he visited the project site at Elebele community in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state, Governor Diri also disclosed that the power that will be generated and distributed from the state’s independent power plant will not be free and that Bayelsans will pay for the service.
Daily Trust reports that the power equipment and their accessories arrived in the state about a week ago.
The governor stated that people of the state were upbeat about the prospect of 24-hour power supply by the end of this year.
He explained that consumption would be metered and paid for as the government had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jampur Group for establishing a customised metering production plant in the state.
He said: “I had given the end of this year as the deadline for this project and we are sticking to that. Hopefully before Christmas, we will have these turbines fired up and by God’s grace Bayelsa will begin to have 24 hours uninterrupted power supply.
“We are actually expecting eight gas turbines but six have arrived and I have been assured that the remaining two with some accessories will be here next week. These are the most modern gas turbines.
“Initially, we planned to have two very large plants but later, the experts advised that there could be a blackout if one of them breaks down. So I had to approve the eight.
“As you know, to maintain this equipment and the gas to fire them, even though it is on our soil, we will spend money to procure it from the company. So it is not free. For there to be constant electricity everybody must pay for it. It is pay as you consume.”
