An AES subsidiary has acquired a majority interested in a barge mounted power station project in Lagos, Nigeria, from Enron Corp. The barge will be located adjacent to the Egbin power station owned by the Nigerian Electric Power Authority (NEPA).
The generating facility comprises nine barge-mounted combustion turbines with a combined generating capacity of 290MW. The barges are under construction, with commercial operations due to begin in September 2001.
Electricity from the plant will be supplied to NEPA under a 13.25 year power purchase agreement. Natural gas for the turbines will initially be supplied by NEPA, prior to privatisation of the authority. After privatisation gas supply will be under a long term contract with a competitive supplier.
The barge mounted power station is an emergency measure to bring power to a region which has a shortfall of around 400 MW.
AES will manage the plant when it is completed.