SPDC JV spends N14.85bn on GMoUs in Rivers State

ITREALMS:

A total of N14.86 billion has been invested by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) operated Joint venture on Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) clusters in Rivers State, giving communities a highly-valued opportunity to decide and implement projects and programmes that have a lasting impact on people’s lives. 

The funding, since the GMoU concept took off in 2006, has enabled the 19 clusters in Rivers State to embark on projects covering health, education, water and power supply improvement, sanitation and infrastructure development.

“The GMoU initiative has opened a new and exciting chapter in the relationship between SPDC JV and communities and empowered the people at the grassroots to take charge of their own development,” said SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli at a presentation of the 2018 Shell Nigeria Briefing Notes to journalists in Port Harcourt. Mr. Weli, who was represented by the Manager, Social Investment/Social Performance, Ms. Gloria Udoh, said the success of the GMoU initiative proves what can be achieved when government, international oil companies, communities and NGOs work together for the common good.

Under the terms of the GMoU, SPDC JV provides secure five-year funding for communities to implement development projects of their choice, which are managed by Cluster Development Boards (CDBs) under the guidance of mentoring NGOs. There are 37 active GMoU clusters in Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Abia states, which have been funded to the tune of more than N41 billion since 2006. 

GMoU clusters in Rivers State have recorded landmark achievements, including setting up a Community Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS) at Obio Cottage Hospital in Port Harcourt, where the average number of patients increased from about 600 to about 7,500 per month in 2017, making it one of the most utilised health facilities in the area. Other clusters have awarded foreign and Nigerian tertiary scholarships, set up transport schemes and built roads. 

In another social investment initiative in Rivers State, SPDC JV has trained more than 800 young men and women under the Shell LiveWIRE programme which was introduced in 2003 to help young entrepreneurs to convert their bright ideas into sustainable businesses, creating wider employment and income opportunities for communities. 

SPDC JV also implements a robust health intervention scheme, supporting 10 hospitals in the state. In 2017, SPDC JV established Nigeria’s first centre of excellence in Marine Engineering and Offshore Technology at Rivers State University in Port Harcourt, which has commenced programmes leading to the award of Masters degrees in Marine Engineering (Power Plants), Naval Architecture and Offshore and Subsea Engineering. This and other educational interventions build on a pioneering scholarship programme that was introduced by SPDC since the 1950s.

“We’re proud of our extensive social investment footprints in Rivers State, which in some cases even stretch beyond the SPDC joint venture. For example, to mark Nigeria’s centenary anniversary, Shell exclusively donated a modern public library to the Port Harcourt Literary Society in November 2016 at a cost of N1.58 billion. While we will continue to work with government, communities and other stakeholders for the development of the Niger Delta, we strongly appeal for a conducive operating environment since this is only way we can do business and implement the needed social investment projects and programmes,” Weli said. 

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Pix: L-R: Chairman Tennis Section of Ikoyi Club, Mr. Abimbola Okubena; Company Secretary, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Mrs. Nike Olafimihan; and Deepwater Business Opportunity Manager of SNEPCo, Mr.  Olaposi Fadahunsi, at the finals of the 2018 Ikoyi club tennis tournament sponsored by NNPC/SNEPCo... on Saturday 

SPDC JV introduces UK summer scholarship for NNPC/Shell Cup Most Valuable Players

ITREALMS:

The Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture (SPDC JV) has introduced an additional education award to the prizes for one of the two Most Valuable Players in the 2017 NNPC Shell Cup for All Nigeria Secondary Schools Football Championship, aside from attending the Feyenoord Youth Academy. The scholarship will take either of Masters Ernest Ojelum and Arase Iyobor of Henson Demonstration Secondary School, Benin to a four-week international summer school at the University of Sussex in Brighton, United Kingdom in 2018. Henson Demonstration Secondary School won the 19^thedition of the school football competition on July 4 in Lagos and received the Winners’ Trophy and a cheque of N2.5 million.

“We are proud of the performance of Henson Demonstration Secondary School for producing the Most Valuable Players and winning this year’s championship,” said the General Manager, External Relations of SPDC, Igo Weli, who was represented by the Social Investment Manager, Emmanuel Ekpenyong at the presentation of the coveted football cup and prizes to the winners in Benin, Edo State. He said that in keeping with the championship goal of ensuring healthy interest in football and education, SPDC introduced a scholarship award to a fully paid four-week education programme for either of the two best players who fulfils the required academic qualifications to the 2018 Sussex International Summer School, with possibility for participation in youth and footballing activities of the newly-promoted English Premier League team, Brighton and Hove FC.

Edo State Commissioner for Education, Dr Christopher Adesotu thanked SPDC and its joint venture partners for the continuous promotion of education and youth development through the school football competition since 19 years now, even in the face of funding challenges.

Representative of the National President of the Nigerian School Sports Federation (NSSF), Mallam Ibrahim Muhammad, Mrs. Olabisi Joseph said, “What SPDC leadership has done is to give the victorious students from Henson Demonstration School enormous exposure and encouraging them not to miss out on education because of their love for football”.

Former striker of the Nigerian national football team, Mr. Sola Akinwale said that one of the beauties of the championship is that it encourages children to stay in school since they cannot participate if they dropped out of school.

Henson Demonstration Secondary School defeated Holy Ghost College, Owerri, Imo State by 2:0 to lift the NNPC/Shell Cup in Lagos. A total purse of N8.2 million was won by the four finalist schools — Henson Demonstration Schools, Benin; Sambo Secondary School, Gusau; Holy Ghost College, Owerri; and Government Secondary School, Maiduguri — for the development of sports facilities in their schools. NNPC/Shell Cup debuted in 1998, and has grown to be the largest secondary school football championship in Nigeria.

*GEE

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SPDC JV’s Afam VI power plant secures licensee for another 10 years

ITREALMS:

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has renewed the power generation licence for Afam VI Power Plant, a 650MW-capacity facility that has delivered over 25.97 million Megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity into the Nigerian grid since inception in 2008, reports ITRealms.

Afam VI is owned by The Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture (SPDC JV) and located in Afam in Oyigbo Local Government area of Rivers State.

Presenting the renewed licence to the leadership of SPDC at the Commission’s office in Abuja on Tuesday, the Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Mr. Dafe Akpeneye, described SPDC JV as a committed partner in the Nigerian power sector adding that the company’s belief in the sector and its resolve to help it develop were remarkable.

“We hope for greater efficiency and improved operations from Afam VI in the next 10-year phase of your operations just as we look forward to working together to resolve some of the challenging issues in the power sector,” he said.

Receiving the licence, the General Manager, Gas of SPDC, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, described the Afam VI as a model worthy of emulation by government and other players in the power sector. “Here’s a power plant with a dedicated gas plant operating with high uptime generating clean and efficient power from the combined cycle of three gas and one steam turbines.”

He lamented the challenges of debt, power evacuation and off-take which he said prevented the plant from delivering optimally at 15 percent of the total national grid-connected electricity.

Afam VI uses combined cycle gas turbine technology that burns 40 percent less gas than plants using older open cycle technologies. This also contributes significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2016, Afam VI power plant supplied approximately 12% of the nation’s grid-electricity.

Built with the most efficient technology in the industry and utilising waste heat energy from the gas turbine exhaust, the plant generates an additional 200MW from the steam turbine without consuming any additional gas, thereby considerably reducing its carbon footprint.

As a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the United Nations Executive Board for Climate Change, Afam VI Power Plant eliminates over 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, while also maintaining excellent safety standards.

The operations at Afam VI have generated subcontract opportunities and employment for over 150 people from the 16 host communities. It also provided hands-on and offshore training for 30 youths in Electrical, Mechanical and Instrumentation engineering on Combined Cycle Power Plant operations and maintenance. All the trainees are already employed in the Nigerian power industry.

The power plant also won SPDC the Best Company in Climate Action Award in the 2016 edition of Sustainability, Enterprise, Responsibility Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility (SERAs–CSR), an annual event to celebrate organisations that invest resources to improve the socioeconomic living conditions of people in Nigeria and Africa.

Ayo Midele/GEE 

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Pix; L-R: Commercial Manager, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), John Kadiri; General Manager, Business and Government Relations, Bashir Bello; General Manager, Gas, Philip Mshelbila; Commissioner for Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dafe Akpeneye; and the General Manager, Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Olufunke Dinneh, at the presentation of power generation licence for SPDC Joint Venture’s Afam VI Power Plant, in Abuja… on Tuesday.