More than a quarter of the total electricity generation in the country comes from Egbin Power plant, the company’s chairman, Kola Adesina, said in Lagos on Friday.
Mr. Adesina, who said the human capital profile of the company was among best in Africa, said the operational capacity of the plant has significantly changed since its privatization almost three years ago.
“Egbin plant’s six 220 megawatts, MW, gas-fired power plants were barely generating 400 MW until its privatization in November 2013, producing a marked improvement, which has since restored the plant to full capacity at 1,320MW,”Mr. Adesina said.
He told reporters that Egbin Power Plc, in conjunction with its technical partners, Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), was mobilizing the necessary financial, technical and regulatory processes to double its total power generation capacity over the next five years.
The transformation at the plant, reputed to be Nigeria’s largest electricity generation plant, commenced immediately after its acquisition by Sahara Power, working through a number of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) in collaboration with its technical partners, KEPCO.
Since its acquisition of the asset, Mr. Adesina said the management has embarked on constant upgrades in technology and investments in human capital to realize its objective to light up the country.
He attributed the achievement of the company within the short period its management was taken over to quality of its personnel, describing them some of the best in Africa it terms power generation.
As the main drivers of the management’s quest for excellence, Mr. Adesina said there was a genuine desire by the company, which is Nigeria’s largest power generation firm, to redefine power generation on the continent.
“We are committed to continuous expansion and investments in alternative energy sources to boost power supply in Nigeria. At the moment Egbin Power accounts for one quarter of power generated in Nigeria,” he said.
“The progress we have recorded so far in Egbin plant is as a result of a “resurgent employee empowerment strategy” that propels each staff to seek creative ways of providing solutions to the challenges of power solution.
“Our people are vital to the transformation story that is unfolding at Egbin. There’s this desire and passion to see Egbin as front players in Nigeria’s quest for uninterrupted, affordable and sustainable power supply,” the chairman stated.
He said Sahara Power/KEPCO partnership has brought to Egbin an unprecedented level of innovativeness, professionalism, human capital development and continuing investment in new technology.
As part of efforts to enhance the capacity of the workers, he said Egbin power runs a graduate engineering programme, GEP, which seeks to ensure seamless employee succession within the company.
The GEP, he pointed out was one of platforms the company has identified for tackling unemployment in Nigeria and creating platforms for sustainable development and improvement in the power sector.
He said the company was focused on building a sustainable franchise and building robust capacity in the technical and theoretical aspect of electricity generation in the country.
According to him, the company’s management has also upgraded its schools located in its estate to provide ultimate learning experience for the power firm’s staff, apart from estate’s recreational facilities, which have been overhauled and remodelled to ensure staffs have access to post work activities for enhanced productivity.
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