OAU to generate own electricity, exit national grid by October – VC
Obafemi Awolowo University will be off the national grid as it will complete its power generating plant in October.
The university’s VC, Eyitope Ogunbodede, said the Rural Electrification Agency has provided the institution with a gas-powered turbine that will generate 8mw of energy.
Professor Ogunbodede said, with the new power plan, the university will be able to save about N65 million that it currently spends as electricity bill monthly.
The vice chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun state, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, has said the institution will complete its power generating plant in October and generate its own 24-hour electricity.
Ogunbodede made this known on Monday, July 15, at a biennial conference of the African Institute for Science Policy and Innovation (AISPI). He said the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has provided the university with a gas-powered turbine that will generate eight megawatts (MW) of energy, while the institution’s daily need is less than six megawatts.
He added that the university will be able to save about N65 million that it currently spends as electricity bill monthly. “One of the key challenges we have is the unstable supply of energy. In fact, it is so erratic that you cannot plan any meaningful research,” he said. “Luckily now, we are working with Rural Electrification Agency to provide for us a gas-powered turbine that will generate 8.0 megawatts of electricity.
