In what could further attract investors, the Lagos State government on Tuesday switched on a 12-megawatt Independent Power Plant (IPP) at the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ).
The government said the IPP is phase 1 of the power project for the zone which energy requirement on completion is put at about 500 megawatts.
Over 100 foreign and local investors with interest in different sectors of the nation’s economy, oil and gas, manufacturing, tourism, energy, agriculture, construction, among others, are said to have so far signed agreement with Lagos State government and promoters of the LFTZ to do business within the zone, which offers irresistible incentives including 100 percent profit repatriation.
The power plant brings to six the number of IPPs executed by the state government in partnership with some private investors. Others before it are Akute IPP, Lagos Island I & II IPPs, Mainland IPP and Alausa IPP.
The LFTZ plant is a dual fuel technology IPP designed to use compressor natural gas (CNG) as a primary feedstock and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a back-up to the plant’s internal combusting engines. The export voltage of the plant is designed to be 11KV, and will transmit electricity at the same output.
The plant is built to serve the power need of the Lekki free trade zone, and investors within will enjoy the advantage of hooking up to the power plant for their operations in what should reduce their operating cost and ultimately translate to lower prices for consumers and users of their products and services. It is estimated that cost of generating power by manufacturing concerns in Nigeria accounts for over 40 percent of their total operational cost.
Speaking at the commissioning of the plant, Babatunde Fashola, Lagos State governor, said with it, the journey to economic prosperity of the state in particular and Nigeria in general has begun, adding that with the LFTZ and all the activities that would be going on there, the country should be aiming to raise the bar in manufacturing.
SOURCE: Business Now