By Udeme Akpan

Aba residents across the Ring-fence Area, covering nine of Abia State’s 17 local government areas, were plunged into darkness on Friday evening following an abrupt disruption in natural gas supply to the 188-megawatt Geometric Power Plant at the Osisioma Industrial Layout.


The outage, which began around 6:30 p.m., halted electricity generation at the plant, cutting power supply to customers served by Aba Power, the electricity distribution arm of the Geometric Power Group.


Confirming the development in a statement on Saturday, the Managing Director of Aba Power, Ugo Opiegbe, apologized to customers for the blackout, attributing it to technical issues affecting the company’s gas supplier.


According to him, the disruption resulted in a significant drop in gas pressure, making it impossible to operate the plant’s turbines.


“Gas pressure has significantly dropped in the last 24 hours,” Opiegbe said. “The pressure, arising from our partner’s facilities, is not strong enough to power our turbines, each of which has a 47MW capacity.”


Although the company did not identify the gas supplier, industry sources said Heirs Energies has supplied gas to the Geometric Power Plant over the past three years through its Associated Gas Gathering (AGG) facilities in eastern Nigeria.


A senior official of the Nigeria Gas Marketing Limited (NGML), who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said sufficient gas volumes were available for the power plant.


According to the official, the main challenge lies in the inability to swap gas supplies due to constraints affecting Heirs Energies’ AGG infrastructure.


“The issue is not the availability of gas,” the official said. “The challenge is Heirs Energies’ inability to swap its gas with NGML because of limitations in its AGG facilities.”


Industry analysts linked the problem to long-standing infrastructure challenges inherited after Heirs Energies acquired operatorship of Oil Mining Lease 17 (OML 17), following the exit of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited>.


Mechanical engineer and energy consultant Dike Ejike said the indigenous producer has made significant operational improvements but continues to grapple with aging facilities.


“Heirs Energies has been investing aggressively since taking over the asset,” Ejike said. “However, it inherited legacy infrastructure that suffered years of underinvestment while the previous operator was engaged in prolonged litigation with the Federal Government over the renewal of its licence.”


He explained that uncertainty surrounding the legal dispute discouraged fresh investment in critical infrastructure before the asset changed hands.


Opiegbe said it remains unclear when normal gas pressure would be restored, warning that electricity supply may not resume within the next 24 hours.


The development has raised concerns among businesses and residents in the Aba Ring-fence Area, which has gained a reputation for more reliable electricity since the commencement of operations by Geometric Power.


Abuja-based engineer Uche Elugwu described the outage as unfortunate, noting that the disruption stems from gas supply challenges outside the control of Aba Power.


“It is regrettable that the reliable electricity supply Aba residents have enjoyed is now being interrupted by gas supply issues beyond the control of Aba Power,” he said. “This underscores the importance of strengthening gas infrastructure to ensure stable power generation