Don't Miss


Home   >   Business   >   Industries   >   Energy   >   Power Projects : PPMC raises concerns over Gas Supplies to power stations

Power Projects : PPMC raises concerns over Gas Supplies to power stations

By on September 8, 2011

The Minister of Communication, Labaran Maku, who echoed the findings of the Presidential Project Monitoring Committee in its submission to the FEC, said what is urgently needed, is for the government to work urgently on gas supply.

The leader of the Presidential Project Monitoring Committee, Ibrahim Bunu, said it has recommended that works on all uncompleted dams be completed to enable the country derive maximum benefit from the sector, adding that proper utilisation of the dams would also help in solving the power problems in the country.

The committee’s briefing, which is expected to continue next week, dominated proceedings at yesterday’s meeting. Maku, stated that projects of the Ministry of Works will be discussed at the next council meeting. This, he said, was in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s insistence that there is need for Council to listen to the report, sector by sector, to derive maximum benefit from the recommendations of the PPAC.

Maku said: “ The chairman and members of the committee in today’s meeting focused on the power sector projects that are going on in parts of the federation. They gave the council a rundown of their tour of the power projects, the level of progress and issues in the field.

“The report focused mainly on how government must do everything possible to ensure that power projects are delivered in good time so that the major sector in which this nation is looking upon us will give results in the lifetime of this administration.”

The committee, he said, “ recommended that one of the issues that we should take time to address, is gas supply. The NIPP projects, which will give this country over 4000MW electricity, are at about 80 per cent completion in the field.”

Another key recommendation, which the committee made, the minister said, is how to complete the various uncompleted dams, which could generate a lot of hydro electricity projects for the country.

It particular, he noted the Dadinkowa dam, in Gombe State, which has the capacity to deliver 34MW of electricity, among several other dams stretching from Gombe, Osun, Kano and Katsina states that are also simply waiting for turbines to be installed to generate electricity.

Reacting to the gas issue, Maku, said the Ministry of Power and Petroleum Resources, assured  the Council that “the gas master plan is already on ground and everything is being done to ensure that it is delivered, so that by the time power projects are completed, there will be gas to run them.”

Nation