By DESMOND EJIBAS

Shell Nigeria Gas Limited (SNG), said it has commenced the construction of a huge gas plant in the commercial city of Aba, in Abia, an official said.

SNG, a subsidiary of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), said the facility will be used for the transmission and delivery of gas to its business customers in the area.

The Managing Director of SNG, Ed Ubong, stated this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Friday by the company’s Manager of Media Relations, Bamidele Odugbesan.

“The Aba City Gas Plant will enable SNG to remove more impurities from natural gas as well as odorise the gas to increase quality gas to end users.

“SNG is the first gas distribution company in Nigeria to adopt this technical solution that ensures plant and product integrity.

“The project is the solution to the challenges businesses in the region face with frequent incursion of liquid into the gas pipelines.

“So, it will provide customers top quality gas supply at a reduced cost,” he stated.

The managing director said the plant will produce 10 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) and expandable to 30mmscfd.

He further said the facility would be powered with 40 megawatts gas-to-power electricity generation capacity that is also expandable to 120 megawatts.

According to Ubong, the company has recently discovered the solution to detecting leakage of Compressed Natural Gas from its pipeline network.

“The introduction of the solution enables the injection of odours into natural gas to facilitate detection in case of gas leak.

“SNG is committed to uninterrupted supply of quality gas to its customers in order to create increased business opportunities for its stakeholders.

“Our development objective remains the creation of greater positive impact in our host communities and the provision of more and cleaner energy,” he stated.

Ubong further said that SNG had recently completed a 20-kilometre gas pipeline expansion project connecting Ogbor Hill, Osisioma and Ariaria areas in Abia.

He said the pipeline currently supplies gas to Ariaria Market Energy Solutions Limited and the Independent Power Project (IPP) consortium that provides electricity to the popular Ariaria market in Abia.

The leader of the project in Aba host community, Eze Onwuka, thanked SNG for the facility and promised an enabling environment for the company’s smooth operation in the community. (NAN)