Shell Nigeria has completed one of the three, Open Cycle gas turbines in the Afam Power Plant, but the facility cannot run, in part because of the vandalisation of the Alakiri gas pipeline. This is contrary to the widespread rumour that the recent, slight improvement in Nigerian power supply was due to the commissioning of the Afam power plant.
The company plans three 147MW Open Cycle gas turbines, (totaling 441MW) and one 200MW steam turbine which, when coupled with the three gas turbines, makes the Afam plant the biggest combined cycle power plant on the African continent.
But there are several obstacles on the way to delivery. The entire plant may be ready for commissioning a year from today, but the transmission grid, as it is, is not stable enough to transport the power.
