The federal government has approved Energy Ventures B.V. to harness flared gas in the Niger Delta region for electricity generation, with the project expected to provide power to more than 80,000 homes and business units.
The project is being developed in Nigeria through Heirs Energies Limited, operator of OML 17, in partnership with Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Energy Ventures chief commercial officer, Yvonne Te Wierik-Chioke, said Heirs Energies invited the company to bring its FlareOut technology to Nigeria, provided the Agbada-2 site where the plant is being constructed and will supply the flare gas to power the facility under a gas sale agreement with African Gas Technologies Company (AGTC).
“Heirs Energies invited us to do this project in Nigeria, gave us the site, and has been very supportive at every step since,” Te Wierik-Chioke said.
She also acknowledged the federal government’s support for the project, noting that Energy Ventures’ team had met with officials of the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Ministry of Power.
According to her, the project received a positive response from both agencies, which pledged to support its execution.
She said the project, which already has a pilot operation at the Agbada oil field, is expected to provide electricity to approximately 80,000 connections, translating to about 500,000 people in the region.
Te Wierik-Chioke said the project would also help address more than six decades of pollution associated with gas flaring in the Niger Delta by converting wasted gas into electricity.
“The project will utilise modularised ‘FlareOut’ units designed by FB Group in the Netherlands.
“These units will be digitally connected to allow Original Equipment Manufacturers to perform remote diagnostics and root cause analysis on gas engines,” she said.
Also speaking, Energy Ventures chief executive officer, Herbert Okibe, said the company would deploy a smart metering solution designed to prevent tampering and provide transparent electricity consumption data through a mobile application.
Okibe said that despite the history of violence in parts of the Niger Delta, the company had recorded a high level of cooperation through extensive customer enumeration and engagement with traditional rulers and electricity committees.
He said the company had adopted measures, including high-quality fencing and armed security supported by Nigerian authorities, to protect its equipment in the region.
Okibe further acknowledged the government’s role in creating what he described as a conducive environment for projects of the nature.
