Cross River state governor, Professor Ben Ayade has expressed optimism that a combined power generation from the two crpss river power plants built by his administration will give the state about 50 megawatts of electricity that will guarantee Calabar, the capital, steady power supply independent of the national grid.
The two cross river power plants are situated at the Parliamentary Extension area of the capital and at Adiabo, an outskirts of the capital.
Speaking during a facility tour of the 26 megawatts gas-fired power plants, which construction is nearing completion, at Adiabo, the governor said he was delighted that \”we have less than seven kilometers where we are going to do hot tapping of the gas with an eight inch pipe and bring it across to our pipeline\”
According to him, \”the consistent generation of 26 megawatt from here combined with the one at Parliamentary Extension will give Cross River State almost 50mw of steady power, making Calabar the first city to be powered from an independent state source without falling back to the national grid\”
Ayade disclosed that the Parliamentary Extension power plant which is a diesel power plant was being converted to gas-fired to ensure about 70 % reduction in the cost of combustion of the turbines.
Commending Skippars, the main contractors handling the Adiabo plant for a job well done and for involving local contractors in the project, the Governor said he was happy the project was over 90 % completed with first firing demostration scheduled for next month.
Ayade charged Adiabo, the host community \”to realize that this project is your own, this project is for your own good\”
The governor later inspected the pylon and piles factory at Akamkpa local government area of the state established by his administration to produce vibrated electric cables.
He described the factory \”as our asset where we produce all the facilities that support power generation\”
