US Envoy Hails Geometric Power’s Aba Project as World-Class Model for Nigeria’s Energy Future

The American Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, has visited the Aba Independent Power Project developed by Geometric Power, Nigeria’s only integrated electric power company, describing the facility as world-class.

Mills made this known during his assessment of the company on Tuesday after he led a team of top American embassy officials on a tour of the firm’s facilities in the Osisioma industrial layout in Aba, the Abia State economic nerve centre.

He stated: “This is world-class, reflecting the kind of innovation and commitment needed to address Nigeria’s energy challenges.”

The facilities the American delegation inspected included the turbines from General Electric, the world’s biggest and oldest electricity equipment manufacturing firm which is based in the United States.

The ambassador and his team also inspected the state-of-the-art digital Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) facilities used in the distribution and management of electricity in all Geometric Power’s 30 feeders.

They were, in addition, shown the company’s massive steel tubular poles comparable to the poles in San Francisco, California, and Tokyo, Japan, which are earthquake prone.

“Though there are no natural disasters like earthquake recorded in the Aba ring-fenced area served by Aba Power which comprises nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State, we installed them to ensure that Aba and its environs would continue to have uninterrupted power in the event of a natural disaster,” said Prof. Bart Nnaji, the Geometric Power Chairman.

The tubulars are buried 10 metres inside the ground to withstand extreme elements, Nnaji, a former Minister of Power and globally respected engineering researcher formerly resident in the United States, explained.

He also revealed that Geometric Power is working with international companies to develop fresh power projects to enhance Nigeria’s energy security.

The ambassador commended Geometric Power for its end-to-end business model which makes it the only Nigerian power group that generates power and distributes to a dedicated area.

“Nigerians are globally known for their creativity and talent. This power plant is a perfect example of that”, Mills said.

After listening to Geometric Power’s Director of Training and Development, Livinus Mmaram, Mills lauded the firm’s arrangements with the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) for the training and retraining of its workforce. “These arrangements make the entire enterprise a sustainable business”, he added.

Among the people on the ambassador’s team were Rick Swart, the United States Consul General in Lagos; Mike Ervin, Chief of the Political and Economic Section of the Embassy; and Julie McKay, the Chief of Public Diplomacy.

Emmanuel Addeh

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