Fresh lifeline has come the way of thousands of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) doing business at the popular Ariara Market in Aba commercial city of Abia State following the inauguration of the new Independent Power Project (IPP) with a total capacity of 9.5 megawatts (MW) off grid gas-fuelled power system.
The scheme, commissioned Tuesday, January 29, 2019, by President Muhammadu Buhari, will cater for 4,000 shops and small businesses with trading activities ranging from clothing and shoes production, printing and fabrication of tools and mechanical parts.
Though to be managed by private investors, Ariaria Market Energy Solutions Ltd under FG’s Energising Economies Initiative (EEI) and championed by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), about 33,000 more shops in Ariaria Market will join later according to the Managing Director of REA, Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi.
Delivery specification further revealed that about 6,000 petrol and diesel generators in Ariaria can now go out of operation from the commencement of the new power system notes Minister of Power, Babatunde Raji Fashola
Business Hilights recalls that IPP is a federal government initiative to support rapid deployment of off grid electricity solutions to provide clean, safe, affordable and reliable electricity to economic and business clusters like markets, shopping centres, and industrial zones across Nigeria through private sector developers.
