Tinubu starts his first power plant. Here’s what to know about the project

Nigeria is building a new power plant, this time in the federal capital Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu performed the groundbreaking of the project on Friday, saying “This marks our bold statement in fulfilling our promise to provide uninterrupted power supply to drive Nigeria’s economy.”

“The groundbreaking for the Gwagwalada thermal power plant (Phase 1) is highly significant to the nation, as it marks the first bold step and the beginning of the administration’s concerted efforts to entrench a strong and virile energy foundation for uninterrupted power supply to boost the economy and accelerate industrial growth,” he said.

Here are seven key details you should know about this project:

1. The Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant (GIPP) is a 1,350-megawatt gas-fired power plant. It is located in Gwagwalada, Abuja.
2. The plant is being built by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in partnership with China Machinery and Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and General Electric (GE) Vernova.
3. The GIPP is expected to be completed in three phases, with the first phase scheduled to be completed in 2024.
4. The first phase of the plant will have a capacity of 350 megawatts, while the second and third phases will have capacities of 700 megawatts and 300 megawatts, respectively.
5. The GIPP is being built to help to address Nigeria’s chronic power shortage. Nigeria currently has an installed power generation capacity of 12,500 megawatts, but only about 4,000 megawatts of that capacity is actually available. The GIPP is expected to add1,350MW.
6. The project lies on 54.7 hectares of land in Gwagwalada, Abuja. It will draw gas from the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline corridor.
7. It is the first major infrastructure project by the new administration of Bola Tinubu.