The present insufficient power supply which has been slowing down industrial development in Nigeria will soon be a thing of the past as 700 megawatts (MW) are to be injected into the national grid before the end of 2021.
This is just as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness and Campaign group said the 700MW Zungeru Hydropower Plant located in Niger State will be completed before the end of this year.
The Zungeru Power Project which was awarded in 2013 at $1.3 million loan taken from the Chinese Nexim Bank is 89% completed, according to a recent statement by Minister of Power, Sale Mamman.
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APC Legacy Awareness and Campaign in a statement signed by Ismail Ahmed, Acting National Youth Leader of the Party; Lanre Issa-Onilu, former APC National Publicity Secretary; Tolu Ogunlesi, Special Assistant to the President on Digital/New Media and Salihu Lukman, Director General Progressives Governors Forum said when finally inaugurated, Zungeru will be one of the biggest power plants in the country.
The voluntary think-tank group of the governing party also said line with a presidential directive to ensure that all Nigerians receiving electricity from the national grid are metered, more than 500,000 meters have been delivered to power Distribution Companies (Discos) with more than 280,000 installed as at May, 2021.
The group said President Muhammadu Buhari administration fully acknowledged the vital role of electrification in the development of Nigeria and has focused on completing inherited projects, many of which had been abandoned or facing funding challenges.
According to them, the administration has also being esolving the liquidity issues faced by players in the sector; promoting off-grid/renewable initiatives, especially targeting underserved communities and vulnerable populations and ensuring robust consumer protection for on-grid electricity consumers.
“In line with this, the Buhari Administration has embarked on the following programmes and initiatives: Completion of inherited and abandoned power projects. Abandoned projects inherited include the 40MW Kashimbila Dam and Hydropower Plant; the 10MW Katsina Wind Farm; and the 30MW Gurara Hydroelectric Power Plant, which has been completed and concessioned to the private sector in 2020.
“New Projects; new projects started by the APC-led President Buhari administration are the private-sector-led Azura Power Plant in Edo State (460MW), for which the financial close was facilitated in 2015/2016, and which was completed in the first quarter of 2018, several months ahead of schedule.
“The Buhari Administration also built the Afam Three Fast Power Plant, with a capacity to generate 240MW of electricity. Following a competitive bidding process, that new plant has been sold, alongside the neighbouring Afam Power Plc (966MW installed capacity), to Transcorp Plc, in demonstration of the administration’s belief in the managerial capacity of the private sector.
“The Energizing Education Programme; this was designed to supply clean and reliable energy (Solar and Gas) to Federal Universities and Federal Teaching Hospitals across the country. So far, four Universities have had their power plants completed and commissioned: BUK (Kano), FUNAI (Ebonyi), ATBU (Bauchi) and FUPRE (Delta); while others are ongoing in the first phase of the programme”, the statement read in parts.
APC Legacy Awareness and Campaign further said the government of the day has initiated the energising economies programme, targeted at markets and economic clusters across the country; solar power Naija to deliver 5 million off-grid solar connections to Nigerian households and the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).
“PPI is a partnership between the Governments of Nigeria and Germany, and a multinational firm, Siemens AG of Germany, to upgrade and modernize Nigeria’s electricity grid, in three phases, over the next few years. President Buhari has since approved the payment of Nigeria’s counterpart funding for the pre-engineering segment of the PPI, and the relevant contract was signed earlier in 2021.
“The Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) is providing grants to support the deployment of 200,000 Solar Home Systems, as well as a nationwide rollout of mini-grids, positively impacting the quality of life for millions of Nigerians.
“The Buhari Administration is investing significantly in the construction and completion of several large-scale gas pipeline projects across the country. The 342KM Escravos—Lagos Pipeline System Phase 2 (ELPS 2) has been completed, as has the Second Lot of the 130KM Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Gas Pipeline. Construction is ongoing on the 614KM Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project”, the group added.
