Electricity: Iran to share expertise with Nigeria

The federal government of Nigeria has revealed plans to tap into Iran’s expertise in the electricity industry.

An Iranian delegation led by its Minister for Industry and Mines, Mohammed Reza and comprising engineers, bankers and business men met Friday in Abuja with Nigeria’s Minister of State for power, Mohammed Wakil, a statement from the ministry of power informs.

Reza, pledged that Iran is ready to share expertise that made Iran self sufficient with Nigeria. “We are here to help Nigeria, overcome the problem of insufficient electricity”, he said noting that Iran has installed capacity of 70,000MW and has over the years provided for a yearly increase of 5,000MW annually.

The Iranians also signified interest in Nigeria’s power Generation, Transmission and Distribution sub-sectors. There are also Iranian Companies that are desirous of collaborating with Nigerian investors to produce switch gears, transformers and cables.

Wakil asked the delegation to collaborate “in the provision of technical expertise, indeed all areas including power generation, through gas-turbine, coal, wind and other renewable as the impressive record of generating 70,000MW for a population of 74 million people is worthy of emulation”.

He formally announced the acceptance of the Iranian invitation to that country, which he said will comprise not only Government officials but also sector operators – Private Sector Owners.

Wakil said that Nigeria in the spirit of non-aligned movement will be ready to accept collaborative efforts from Iran.

The Permanent Secretary, Power, Godknows Igali, also appealed to the Iranian financials to consider proposal for joint venture with Nigerian consortium of companies in accessing fresh funds to reinvest in the Nigerian Power Sector.