Manufacturers in the Ikeja axis could start experiencing steady power sometime in the future as the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Geogrid Lightec energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the generation of 10 Megawatts of power within the Ikeja industrial cluster.
Gas required will be supplied by Gaslink Plc and the plant will run on both gas and diesel.
Chairman of Manufacturers Power Development Company Ibrahim Usman shed more light on why MAN was determined to generate its own power.
As of today, some companies spend as much as 40 per cent of their cost on power and this obviously affects the competitiveness of our products. It is, therefore, very important for the Nigerian manufacturing concern to have power at a reasonable cost; this why we are partnering Geogrid to ensure that our cluster in Lagos gets electricity
Why Ikeja Disco will be on alert
While the plant would be of immense benefit to the manufacturers, Ikeja Distribution Company may suffer a decline in income when the plant comes on stream. Most electricity distribution companies rely on Maximum Demand customers for about 60% of their revenues. Manufacturing entities tend to require huge volumes of power and pay their bills promptly, since running on electricity is cheaper than other sources of energy
Geogrid Lightec Energy is a subsidiary of Geogrid energy a privately held independent power generation company. The company is into embedded generation, facility management and captive power generation and has carried out several projects in the country
MAN was established in 1971 and is the umbrella body representing manufacturers in Nigeria.
