5th November, 2020
By Jethro Ibileke
Residential homes, offices and businesses within vicinity of Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, in Benin, Edo state, will soon be enjoying uninterrupted 24-hours power supply, as the 55MW CCETC-Ossiomo Independent Power Plant will extend its services to them.
The Managing Director of the plant, Dr. Uwa Igiehon, gave the indication on Thursday in Benin, while test running the lighting of facilities within the perimeters and inside the main bowl of the newly reconstructed stadium.
Igiehon disclosed that the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium would henceforth enjoy 24-hour power supply which would be extended to all homes and businesses around the facility.
According to him, “We have the 33KV line running from Ologbo to Palm House. That is about 33 kilometers of distance from Palm House to the stadium. It is a complete circuit and everything has been designed to run for 24/7.
“The state government has done a fantastic job by installing a 2.5KVA transformer in the stadium and I expect that this power will be extended to all the residential homes and commercial offices around the stadium.
“The same should apply to the 11KV line by the state secretariat; all the houses and commercial entities around the roads should be powered up; we are connecting some new locations already,” he added.
Igiehon commended the Obaseki-led state government for putting the state on economic path.
According to him, “One of the things that Governor Godwin Obaseki has done continuously is to put everything on an economic path. Economics is a science and having power is critical to having industries. I am sure that with the 24/7 power at the main bowl, it’s going to attract a lot of socio-economic activities that will boost the economy of the state.
“My primary objective is to make sure that we do not only provide power but provide it on a sustainable and affordable basis. The difference between the tariff that we are supplying our power and the cost of using a generator is vast. So, it’s important, particularly for industries that power is supplied at a rate that is affordable.”
The Managing Director described the relationship between the firm and the state government, which led to the execution of the ongoing project, as a fantastic model, adding “there has never been a time when we needed the input of the state government and were denied such support.”