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Management of Heritage Bank has announced that the recently completed Peninsula Independent Power Project (PIPP) financed by the Bank will be commissioned in March this year. The project is in fulfillment of the bank’s commitment in the provision of a strong backbone for capital intensive projects in the state. It is also a reaffirmation of its growing stature as an emerging national bank with strong passion for financing alternative solutions in the nation’s Power and other sectors.
Available data shows that, as at today, the power requirement of Lagos is estimated at about 10,000-12,000 MW. This is in sharp contrast to the less than 1,000MW available to Lagos State from the national grid. This situation prompted Lagos State government to resort to alternative power projects.
The Peninsula Independent Power project, located in the Lekki Peninsula area of the state, is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Lagos State Government (LASG) and Peninsula Integrated Power Limited which seeks to provide alternative solutions to the inconsistent Power supply from the national grid.
The Managing Director/CEO of Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, said Heritage Bank was proud to be part of the project conjectured by the Lagos State Government to provide power supply for businesses and industries around Lekki Peninsula. He added that the Bank’s involvement in the project was borne out of its business objective of continuously offering ingenious financial support and advisory services on investment, project finance, business expansion, modernization, production process & capacity improvement and restructurings that would create multiple economic advantages for the benefits of vast majority of its stakeholders.
According to him, “the Project Finance facility granted to the Peninsula Independent Power Project was to set up a 8.5 Megawatts Captive Power Generating Plant with a 22km Distribution Network which has the potential of upgrading to a 25MW power generating plant that will run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The Peninsula Integrated Power Project (PIPP) will provide power for the Lagos State Government (LASG) water works and public lighting within Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikoyi.”
He added that facilities to be connected to the Peninsula Integrated Power Project include: Lekki Phase 1 Waterworks, Ligali Ayorinde Waterworks, Victoria Island, Saka Tinubu Waterworks, 3 Boreholes located at Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island and Alexander Road Waterworks Ikoyi. Others include 10 km of New Public Lighting within Lekki Phase 1, 15 km of New Public Lighting within Victoria Island and Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge.
Mr. Sekibo noted further that with the recent acquisition of Enterprise Bank, Heritage Bank is set to play more active role in sustainable economic initiatives as well as the CBN efforts to promote financial inclusion and all national banking operational standards.
The official commissioning of the power project will be performed by His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN in March 2015.
