AKK project at 73.3% completion – Ahmed

The 614 km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK), Nigeria’s gas pipeline project developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), is at 73.3 percent completion.

The project estimated at an excess of $2.5 billion, forms Phase One of the trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project.

Abdulkabir Ahmed, Group Executive Director (GED), Gas and Power, of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd., (NNPC), disclosed, while fielding questions from journalists shortly after presenting a paper, “Nigeria Gas Master Plan and Opportunities for the Northern States”, at a public lecture and merit award in honour of the Emir of Lere, Engr. Suleiman Umar, by the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE), over the Weekend in Kaduna.

He said: “Given a time line of 2022, the AKK project was conceived and we hit the ground running as far back as 2017 and to date, we have made tremendous progress.

“So the detailed engineering work as we speak today is at 73.3 percent completion. So, we now have less than 25 percent left.”

The GED who was represented by Engr. Igbokwuwe Emmanuel, General Manager, Commercial, Nigeria Gas Company (NGC), added that in terms of progress, the project has been split into three, to make sure that it was completed in the earliest possible time.

He also disclosed that “the immense opportunity is that Kaduna will have access to 900 MW of power generated by the time AKK comes on stream.”

According to the GED, Kaduna State would have enormous access to raw gas that can support the spring up of industries classified as Gas-based Industries (GBI), like the fertilizer companies, petrochemical companies: amonia, methanol, just to mention but a few.

Mr Ahmed said the extent of the actualization of the gas masterplan was such that it has really advanced to the extent that the Federal Government, particularly this present regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, has marched his words with action by making sure that NNPC identify those nooks and crannies in the country where the gas is not yet harnessed, to develop a commercial framework to ensure that they are produced.

He explained that the whole idea was to ensure that Nigeria gets value in terms of revenue , job creation and value in terms of diversifying Nigeria’s economy, not just by the power generation companies, but at the same time, with the Gas-Based Industries (GBI) like the fertilizer companies, petrochemical companies, amonia, methanol and so on.

He said: “Gas masterplan was set up holistically to ensure that we unlock all the gas resources in Nigeria, irrespective of where the source is, being it in the South-East, South-South, South-West, just to mention but a few.

“All we need is that as the AKK is maturing, all prospective investors can start arranging themselves in syndicates and then identify where an industrial park can be located so that as the gas is coming to this axis through the AKK, it will be readily available to power our industries.

“The gas we are talking about is not just gas for power generation, the gas we are talking about is the Liquid Natural Gas (LNG).”

On the incessant hike of domestic cooking gas, the GED blamed it on the exchange rate, the demand and supply gap, as well as the over reliance on original equipment manufacturers.

“In the last 10 years, it was below a N1, 000 to an average of 12.5 cylinder cooking gas,” he said.

He added that what NNPC was doing now was to make sure it unlocked, in the midstream, those gas reserves that could be conditionally be processed to serve as domestic gas.

According to Mr Ahmed, a typical example was the plant in Kwale, Delta State, where NGC was in partnership, where an average of 125 Million standard cubic feet per day (125 MMscfd) iwas produced for power generation for industries and, at the same time, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).

“This LPG gas are loaded in trucks from Kwale plant in Delta State and are being supplied to all nooks and crannies of this country. So, by the time we are able to deepen the domestic market in small areas, the cumulative impact will begin to manifest,” he explained.

Chairman of the occasion, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bujaje, while calling for proper sensitization on the dangers of vandalizing the pipelines, warned that gas, as a very volatile fuel, people should keep away from the pipelines, saying if there was any leakage, it could spell doom for nearby communities.

He said what was contained inside the pipeline was gas, adding: “You cannot collect it in buckets and jerry cans, it is not like crude oil or petrol.”

Prof. Bugaje said the AKK was an opportunity for Nigeria to generate power, distribute it on mini-grids, not on the national grid, so that it could reach industrial hubs geared towards the revival of industries in Kaduna, Kano and other states around those two centers.

According to him, on the inadequacy of power, Kaduna has one of the largest power consumption in the country, especially in the Northern states, explaining that most people get one per cent or less, than what the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) transmits.

“The AKK is also an opportunity to create industries with natural gas, including the production of urea fertilizer which is badly needed; Nigeria has one of the lowest consumption in the world, if it can generate more, farm output will also increase.

“Urea fertilizer is just one of them, you can produce ammonia, nitrate acid, methanol, ethanol; you can produce polypropylene which is plastic, PVC pivaloyl chloride which is being used for pipes, and the opportunities are so huge that this, to me, is the most important project of this regime.”

The ES however observed the need to get local chemical engineers involved in the design of the plants, adding: “We should not do turn-key projects like the way we built Kaduna, Warri Refineries and others whereby whenever we want to maintain them, we have to go outside the country to get services, let us build these industries, design them by Nigerian chemical engineers so that we can maintain them ourselves which is going to create a lot of opportunity, a lot of employment and a lot of income to the states and the Federal Government.”

While describing the AKK as the most important project brought by President Muhammadu Buhari, he said it would solve a myriad of problems the country was facing.

He stressed the need for sensitization of investors to buy in and by the time the pipeline was completed in a few years, the industries would be ready.

Speaking on behalf of the awardees, the Emir of Lere, Engr. Suleiman Umar, thanked the NSChE for recognising him after his career at the NNPC.

He however noted that the opportunities that exist with the coming of the AKK, especially to the North, could be overemphasized.

He commended the federal government for bringing up the laudable project, which has been in the pipeline for over 30 years, to reality and prayed that it will become one of the legacies of the present administration.

Others awardees at the occasion were Engr. Garba T. Muhammad, Manager ETSD, Kaduna Refinery Petroleum Company (KRPC), Engr. Dr. M.K., Rector NUBAPOLY; Kaduna, Engr. Dr. Abdulrashid Babalola; Engr. Dr. Diya’uddeen Bashir Hassan and Engr. Ado Garba Ahmed, Manager PPQC, KRPC.