The State Governor, Chief Achike Udenwa announced this at the ground breaking ceremony of the Egbema 338 Megawatts Gas Turbine Power Station which is the third of the 7 Power Stations, being executed by the Federal Government under the National Integrated Power Project within the Niger Delta area.

The Governor, who performed the ground breaking ceremony, told a large crowed at the sites of the power station that the idea of building the Izombi Power Station was to complement the current efforts of President Obasanjo to develop electricity which he described as a vehicle for economic and social development.

He announced that the vision of the president was similar to his own vision to provide power required for industrial development.

In an opening address, presented by the Honourable Minister of Power and Steel, Senator Liyel Imoke, the Federal Government is to realize 2,744 Megawatts of electricity, which will form part of the expected 10,000 Megawatts targeted for 2007.

He explained that the significance of event of the ground breaking would be better appreciated, if one recalled that no new power station was built in Nigeria, 10 years prior to 1999 when this administration come into being.

“It is to the credit of the present administration under the leadership of the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR, that we now have operational one new Federal Government owned power station at Afam; two Independent Power Producers and eleven on-going power station projects at various stages of development in different locations across the country. “All has amazingly occurred within a period of 6 years” he said.

While he thanked the state government for providing the land on which the plant is being built, he urged the people of the state to support the development of the project which he pointed out in all ramification, would be of tremendous socio-economic benefit to the state.

The project being executed at a cost of N16 billion, is being handled by Rockson Engineering, in collaboration with Burns and McDonnell and OTIS Engineering of the United States and others.

It is expected that the first unit of the plant would be fired in June of 2007 and the entire plant commissioned in December of the same Year.

Clinton Adebolu Oni
Chief Press Secretary/Head PRU