Contrary to the reports making the rounds in Nsukka metropolis about the impending danger of sitting a gas plant at a busy part of the university community, the chairman of the Wilson Nigeria Limited, Chief William Agbo, has allayed the fears of the general public on the development.
Agbo explained that the site was duly approved by the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and other regulatory bodies in the country, assuring that he has installed enough safety measures to forestall any form of fire outbreak in the plant.
This development followed series of complaints by the residents who foresee danger in the location of the facility at Total Round-about which is close to commercial banks and other business premises.
While speaking to Vanguard at Umukashi, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, yesterday, Chief Agbo said ” In the gas plant, we have a lot of safety measures as outlined by DPR. We made sure that we did not only meet the requirements but surpassed them. For instance, we have Excess Flow Valve, EFV, the essence of the EFV is to make sure that gas is shut off from the entire system in case of breakage of any of the pipes or sudden rush of the product out of the tank. I am happy to say that it is a modern technology which so many plants don’t have at all.
“We also have the Fire Hydrant Line, FHL, which puts-off any form of fire within the gas plant. Then, for any gas plant of our size, the maximum Pressure Relieve Valve, PRV, is two, but in our case, we are installing four PRVs. The valve releases pressure to the air, in case of excess pressure in the tank. So, instead of the tank blowing, the valve releases the pressure to the air and nothing will happen.
“We also have compressor in the tank which sucks all the vapour in the vessel into the storage tank where it would condense back into the air.
“Also, the size of land required to build a gas plant of our capacity is four and a half plots of land, but in our case, we have seven and a half plots. The entire land is dedicated for the plant and nothing else. Instead of having two gates, we have three. All the switches we installed are flame-proof. So, we have adopted great safety measures because we don’t want any casualty in our facility.
“My gas plant at Eha Alumona was the first gas plant in Nsukka Senatorial Zone and we have not recorded any casualty since 1995 when it was built. So, how could anybody be talking of danger in our plant today with all the modern technologies and our experience in the business? My competitors are just afraid because we are known for quality products and we don’t short change our customers,” he explained.
He equally said that he built two fences, adding that the main installation is at least, 30 meters away from other properties in the vicinity.
