Makinde inaugurates first phase of 11 MW Ibadan hybrid power plant

Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Friday in Ibadan inaugurated the first phase of the 11-megawatt Ibadan Hybrid Power Plant (IBHP).

Supreme News reports that the first phase has five megawatts (MW), and the project is sited at the Power House of State Secretariat at Agodi in Ibadan.

The hybrid power facility, which is a project sponsored by a private concern, is expected to supply electricity to the State Government Secretariat, the State House of Assembly, among others.

It is expected that the facility will enhance power supply within the secretariat and its environs, thereby reducing energy costs and promoting environmental sustainability.

In his remarks during the inauguration, Makinde said the Ibadan Hybrid Power Plant marked a historic achievement in the state’s energy sector.

“The completion of the first phase of the project will end the menace of interrupted power to critical infrastructure within the secretariat and its environs,” he noted.

The governor added that 12 different healthcare facilities, a sports complex, judicial complexes, and some selected schools within Ibadan would equally benefit from the completed hybrid power plant.

“With the completion of this phase, Oyo State has gone from producing electricity at the mini grid stage to five MW of electricity, with four MW of gas and one MW of solar,” he said.

Makinde said the 11 MW hybrid power plant, when fully completed, would boost power supply to industries and households in the state capital.

He added that the project would also contribute to reducing the carbon footprint by utilising renewable sources of energy and aligning with global efforts to combat climate change.

“It will also enhance safety and visibility, as well as boost energy reliability and sustainability in the state.

“Also, it will serve as the fulcrum that is pivotal to the future development in our dear state.”

The governor pointed out that the power plant was 100 percent a private investment because the government did not have the money to do everything.

“But, as a government, we have provided the enabling environment for investors to know that we are serious people.

“We have invested in road construction, interconnecting all the zones so that development can spread across the state.

“We have focused on agribusiness so that investors can come into the state through the Private Public Development Partnership.

“We have taken strategic steps to reduce our infrastructure deficit, and the result has been enhancing the growth of our economy,” he said.

Makinde then promised that his administration would soon launch a 500 MW power project at Igbojaye, in the Itesiwaju Local Government Area of the state.

He said this was because the area has a very high concentration of sun energy.

“The 500 MW project will be completed to enhance socio-economic development before the end of this administration.”

The state’s Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Seun Ashamu, while speaking, described the completion of the first phase of the project as a remarkable achievement.

Ashamu said the power plant would enhance the provision of a stable electricity supply to the state secretariat and its environs.

Mr. Deji Oparinde, the Chairman of the Committee on Energy at the Oyo State House of Assembly, commended the state government’s vision, saying it would engender investment in the state.