Egbin Power Plc, a member of the Sahara Power Group, has said it will promote the use of electric vehicles in the country in line with the Federal Government’s alternative energy efforts. The company disclosed this on Tuesday at the unveiling of its electric vehicles and bicycles for use at its premises, which houses the nation’s largest power plant.
The Chairman, Board of Directors, Egbin Power Plc, Mr Temitope Shonubi, said the company was looking to promote clean energy, healthy living, safety, environmental sustainability, productivity and excellent performance. He said 20 buggies and 500 bicycles would be deployed for usage by staff members within the facility in a bid to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment.
“Egbin has been picked as the first place we will commence not just a drive of sustainability, energy conservation, quality living, but a drive of ensuring that everybody stays alive. Their quality of life is priceless,” he said. Shonubi noted that the Federal Government was trying to encourage the use of alternative energy such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Compressed Natural Gas in vehicles.
He said, “Electric cars will also be promoted. Now, the question people will ask is that I don’t even have electricity, so how can I use electricity for my car? I would assure you that with what the minister has said and at the end of the day, we will play our role. “Once the TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) can evacuate the power we are generating; it simply means that there will be more power out there.”
According to him, Egbin has the capacity to evacuate at least 860 megawatts of power but is currently evacuating about 500MW. The company said in a statement that every walk-to-work and bike-to-work activity as well as riding on the electric buses within the facility would prevent emission of 3.78 metric tonnes per day of carbon dioxide from about 150 cars within Egbin and 1379.7 metric tonnes every year.