Nigeria to generate 10GW electricity from $3b investment

https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria-to-generate-10gw-electricity-from-3b-investment/

By Kingsley Jeremiah

The Federal Government has said 10 gigawatts (GW) of electricity are feasible from an investment of $3 billion being made in the power sector.

The current state of the industry has rendered most of the previous projections by political actors mere lip service, as the country’s prevailing transmitted electricity is below 5,000 megawatts.

By forecasts, Nigeria should have been generating 40,000 megawatts, with plans to hit 30 gigawatts by 2030.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, however, told stakeholders at a conference organised by the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE) that the bottlenecks were being addressed, noting that an accelerated investment in transmission and distribution of over $3 billion would put Nigeria on a path of 10GW of electricity.

According to him, the fund is being provided as interventions through the Central Bank of Nigeria, Siemens Partnership, World Bank, African Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), French Development Agency, and others.

Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, Ahmad Zakari, Osinbajo stated: “We need more electricity for our large population. That is why this administration continues to invest in expanding generations to cater to our current and future needs. The Okpai Phase II plant, Afam III fast power plant, Zungeru hydro plant, and Kashimbilla hydro plant will add more than 1000MW of capacity in both gas and renewable segments.

“This administration has transformed the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) into a renewable energy-driven organisation with solar power at its heart. The five million solar connections programme – Solar Power Naija – aims to electrify 25 million citizens through the private sector and public-private partnerships, and is the largest off-grid connections programme in Africa.”

He said the $2.6 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline would address gas constraints, adding that the NLNG Train Seven project would increase capacity by 30 per cent and keep Nigeria at the forefront of Liquified Natural Gas globally.

According to him, the completion of the OB3 Line this year would strengthen the most populous black nation’s position as the sixth-largest gas country and ninth in gas export.

Osinbajo added that Service-Based Tariff reform increased collections by 63 per cent.

The development, he observed, increased revenue assurances for gas producers and stabilised the value chain.

With growing poverty level and escalating population growth amid widening energy want, NAEE President, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, said Nigeria had not only epitomised the paradox of lack in the sector, but also a strange revenue-draining paradox of being both a major exporter of crude oil and…