TheCable

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC), General Electric (GE) have signed the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) for the 50MW Maiduguri Emergency Power Project.

In a Facebook post, the corporation said the contract was signed on Tuesday.

The national oil company said the Maiduguri project is an integral part of ongoing efforts to deepen gas utilisation for numerous socio-economic benefits across the country.

“The project is aimed at combating perennial power challenge in the Borno state capital and its environs,” the NNPC noted.

In April, Mele Kyari, group managing director of NNPC, had announced plans to address the issue of power supply in Borno state.

“We think it’s very possible to establish a dedicated plant in Maiduguri which will serve the current needs and potentially supply power to other neighbouring cities and even countries,” he had said.

“We are seeing a very short time frame, between three to four months we should be able to put up a power plant that will serve Borno.”

Earlier in the year, Maiduguri and other areas in Borno went into total blackout after the destruction of electricity tower that supplies the state by Boko Haram members.

The Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) restored power to the state after two months of outage.