The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued a licence to the Ondo State Government and its partners, Kingline Development Company, a South Korean firm, to generate 550 megawatts of electricity.
According to officials of the state government and their partners, the licence will see to the realisation of the first phase of the Kingline Ondo Independent Power Plant project.
The Business Development Director and Head of Nigeria Operations, Kingline Development Company, Mr. Akinnola Fola, who announced the issuance of the licence in Abuja, said the promoters of the IPP were very excited about the development.
He said the actual construction of the plant would commence in June, adding that “the project is in the final stage before achieving finance close.”
Last year, the Ondo State Government sealed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with POSCO E & C of South Korea for the first phase of the proposed 1,100MW independent power project.
The state is currently partnering Kingline Development Company through its Nigerian subsidiary, Kingline Development Nigerian Limited, for the development of the IPP.
The first phase of the project involves the construction of a gas-fired power plant that will generate 550MW of power to be fed to the national electricity grid. The second phase is expected to add another 550MW.
POSCO is to see to the design, engineering, procurement, construction, inauguration and testing of the 550MW open cycle gas turbine power plant.
Actual construction is expected to take about 26 months from commencement and date of issuing the notice to proceed.
Kingline Ondo IPP Limited is to implement the power generation project, officials of the firm said in a statement on Sunday.
They noted that the engineering, procurement and construction contract between POSCO E & C and Kingline Ondo IPP was a crucial milestone, as this would increase the country’s electricity generation capacity when completed.
They further stated that the contract covered the turnkey delivery of the power plant.
