TECHNO-ECONOMIC STUDY OF ELECTRICITY GENERATING POTENTIALS OF FLARED GASES IN KOKORI TOWN OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

According to the Department of Petroleum resource (DPR) in its 2018 annual report, 11% of total gas production in Nigeria was flared that year, which translate into about 88.06 BSCF (billions standard cubic feet) of gases that could have been delivered to power plants. This work aims to study the economic benefits of utilizing flared gases for power generation in Nigeria using Kokori Island in Delta State as a case study. Data such as flare volumes and gas turbines fuel consumption were obtained from July to December 2018. The research work was carried out using a five steps methodology which include; Intensive literature review, Site visits, Data collection, Data classification and analysis using payback period. Primary data used were collected through direct measurement of related parameters, The following findings were made; (1)That about 86 % ($5, 002, 391.844) of the total annual operating and maintenance cost goes into purchasing of natural gas for fuelling the turbines to generate electricity, (2) That the average daily gas flaring volume is about 7.2 mmscf/d (Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day) which translates into about 2,625 million mmscf per year, (3) Hitachi H25 gas turbine generator requires about 3.5657 mmscf of natural gas per day to generate 22.9 Mega Watts of electricity which translates into about 1,301 mmscf per year. The following are the recommendations;(1) That the federal government through its Department of Petroleum resource (DPR) should enforce a total ban on gas flaring in Nigeria, (2) That the federal government of Nigeria should decentralize electricity generation and distribution to encourage more investors through a competitive market system, (3) That more indigenous engineers and scientists should undertake researches in electricity generation, transmission and distribution so as to make the commodity available and affordable to Nigerian citizens in the nearest future.