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The Minister for Environment, Alhaji Balarabe Lawal has commended the Bayelsa State Government on the proposed new 60mw gas power plant in the state.
He gave the commendations on Thursday during a visit for the carrying out of Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA) on the project’s site at Elebele, a suburb of Yenagoa, the State capital.
Represented by Mr Adimchinobi Okereke, a Senior official of the Ministry, the Environment Minister said the visit was necessitated by the need to ensure that work on the site does not fall short of conventional environmental impact assessment (EIA) guidelines.
He added that upon completion, the power plant would not only benefit Bayelsans, but also solve part of the protracted power problem facing a segment of the nation.
He said: “The reason for this visit and workshop is to ensure that a proper EIA was carried out before final approval is granted the Bayelsa State Government. But you must know that this power project is a welcome development for the state and Nigeria as it will not only benefit this state and its people, but also solve the problem of inadequate power supply to a segment of this nation”, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, while conducting the Minister and his entourage round the site, the Director, Operations, Bayelsa electricity company Ltd, Engr. Steve Bubagha Jnr., has said the company intends to install a 60mw ‘plug and play’ Gas fired turbine which will be powered by the Oando gas manifold located at Elebele community.
Bubagha said total area of land for the project was about 5.8 hectares, noting however that the company was currently making use of 2.1 of the total hectares located for the project which he said was officially known as ‘Yenagoa Power Project’.
He said: “This is a ‘plug and play’ Gas Turbine. What we mean by ‘plug and play’ is that the turbine is already set to be fixed. What we’re waiting for is just to work on other components of the gas turbine, and so in less than two years or at most in two years time the turbine should be running”.
In same vein, the EIA consultant to the project, and Dean Faculty of Science, Niger Delta University, Prof. Azibola Inegite has promised that proper Environmental Impact Assessment would be carried out on the site and location of the power plant.
He stated that EIA is an essential aspect of the execution of any life-impacting land and other environmental related projects world over.
In his reaction, a participant and Technical Adviser to state Governor on Print Media/Public Affairs, Snr. Comrade Wisdom Ikuli commended the state Governor, Senator Douye Diri for his foresight in executing the project.
Ikuli noted that the proposed 60mw gas fired power plant will cushion the effect of the incessant power outages experienced in the state, just as it will also grow businesses and fast track the processes of industrialization of state.
Highpoints of the Minister’s visit was a programme tagged, ”Stakeholders Engagement Scoping Workshop For Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Proposed Installation of Gas Powered Plant and Gas Delivery Pipeline In Bayelsa State”.
Participants at the workshop included stakeholders from Elebele, host community of the proposed power plant, and Kpansia, an impacted community in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state as well as others.
It would be recalled that to cushion the effect of worsening power supply, the Bayelsa State Government last week approved the purchase and installation of a 60mw gas fired twin turbine in Elebele community of Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.
