Nigeria’s Sokoto State government successfully conducted a test run of its $9.4m independent power project (IPP), informed ESI Africa.

The project, the first of its kind in the northern part of the country, has an installed capacity of a minimum of 30MW and a maximum of 38MW, Premium Times reported.

The contracting firm, Vulcan Elvaton Ltd’s COO, Franklin Ngbor, stated during the test run that the turbine of the project had already been tested three times.  Ngbor added: “The plant when fully completed, finally fired and integrated into the national grid, can work for five consecutive years nonstop. It is only after it works for five years that it can be shut down for routine maintenance.”

The Director-General of the project, Umar Bande, said plans are afoot to sign a fuel supply security agreement with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or other major oil firms. He noted that this came in order to make the fuel supply cheaper and more sustainable, while ensuring maximum operations of the plant. Bande, stated that the plant has a multiple type turbine that can use diesel, gas or low pour fuel oil (LPFO). According to him, the plant was now being test run on diesel, saying “it consumes 33,000l/d.”