The Federal Government, yesterday in Abuja, said 10 Gigawatts (10,000MW) of electricity is feasible from an investment of $3 billion being made in the power sector.
The prevailing situation of the nation’s power sector has rendered most of the previous projections by the authorities a mere lips service as the country’s current transmitted electricity only stands below 5,000 megawatts. By projections, Nigeria should be generating 40,000 megawatts while a plan indicated leapfrog to 30 gigawatts by 2030.
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, however, told stakeholders at a conference organised by the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE) that bottlenecks are being addressed. According to him, an accelerated investment in transmission and distribution of over $3 billion will put Nigeria on a path to 10GW of electricity. He said that the fund is being provided as interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Siemens partnership,the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), French Development Agency and others.
Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Infrastructure, Ahmad Zakari, Osinbajo said: “We need more electricity for our large population. That is why this administration continues to invest in expanding generation to cater for our current and future needs. The Okpai ph II plant, the Afam III fast power plant, the Zungeru Hydro plant, and the Kashimbilla Hydro plant will add more than 1000MW of capacity in both gas and renewable segments.
“This administration has transformed the Rural Electrification Agency into a renewable energy-driven organisation with solar power at its heart, the five million Solar Connections Program – Solar Power Naija aims to electrify 25 million citizens through the private sector and public-private partnerships and is the largest off-grid connections program in Africa.”