BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
Lagos State Governor, MR. BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU, on Thursday, disclosed the plan by his Government to expand the capacity of the State-owned Independent Power Plant (IPP).
SANWO-OLU said his administration would be harnessing private investment to boost the output of the IPP in response to the growing need to sustain the “Light-Up Lagos” project of his predecessor and also to absorb more public offices in the State-owned power grid.
The Governor made this known during a facility inspection of the IPP in Alausa, which is currently being managed on behalf of the Government by Alausa Power Limited.
SANWO-OLU was accompanied on the inspection by the Deputy Governor, DR. OBAFEMI HAMZAT; Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, MR. OLALERE ODUSOTE and General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board, MR. MUKHTAR TIJANI.
This effort by the SANWO-OLU administration to upscale the output of the IPP is seen as major move by the State Government to optimise the capacity of the power plant, seven years after it was built.
The Governor said: “We considered embarking on this facility inspection of the Lagos IPP to see how we will optimise the current usage of the plant early this year, given the growing demand for electricity to power public facilities around.
“Knowing the current output of the power plant is necessary for us to decide what kind of investment required to solve the operational issues and upscale the output. When the IPP was built in 2013, it boosted the capacity of Government’s offices in Alausa and help us in our Light-Up Lagos project. But, there is a need for us to expand the services for more coverage.”
SANWO-OLU said the current output could no longer meet the demand of the State. He said the inspection tour would be followed up with a meeting with partners on the IPP initiative to discuss sustainable growth plan on the output, as more Government’s facilities are set to be integrated into the power grid.
“What we currently have now certainly cannot meet up with our requirements. We want to expand and grow the Light-Up Lagos initiative, so that we can light up strategic highways and areas, including Ikorodu Road, Ogudu, and Oworonsoki and extend the initiative to Adeniyi Jones and Oba Akran Road. We want to have the whole parts of the State lit up at night,” SANWO-OLU said.
The Alausa IPP, built in October 2013, is one of the power plants conceived and developed by the State Government. It provides electricity to a number of public institutions in the Ikeja environ and also powers key public infrastructure, including streetlights on major highways.
