Azura Edo IPP

active

The Project consists of a Greenfield 450 MW (net) open cycle gas turbine (“OCGT”) power plant covering approximately 12.5ha of a 102ha site located in Edo State, Nigeria. The Project site is located to the north-east of Benin City, adjacent to the existing NIPP, just outside the limits of the built up area and within the Benin bypass road. It mainly consists of secondary forest, subsistence farming (slash and burn practices), plantation (palm oil, rubber), and dwellings and footpaths. The Project Sponsor is Azura Power West Africa Limited (“Azura”), a subsidiary of Amaya Capital Limited (“Amaya”). The OCGT plant has been designed to accommodate the potential conversion to Closed Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) with a total net output of approximately 670 MW. There are two associated facilities: an above ground 300kV transmission line (less than 1 km), with two pylons, connecting the Project site to the Benin North substation (adjacent to the Project site); and an underground gas pipeline spur of approximately 1km in length connecting the power plant to the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System (“ELPS”). The existing Benin-North substation is not an associated facility given that its use predates the Project. The World Bank is involved in the restructuring of the energy sector in Nigeria, and is expected to have a role in this Project through the partial risk guarantee (“PRG”) scheme being proposed. Azura is one of 14 IPPs nominated by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Finance for participation in the proposed PRG series. MIGA is considering providing political risk insurance for the Project.