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Nigeria establishes 118 power projects to address electricity challenges

By on October 3, 2014

The federal government is currently constructing about 118 power projects as part of efforts to tackle the low electricity generation in the country. The 118 power projects spread across the country,  are at  different stages of completion. Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi disclosed this at a monthly breakfast meeting organised by Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) in Lagos recently.
Speaking on  the theme, ‘Nigerian Power Sector: The New Frontier,’ Amadi called on Nigerians to exercise  patience  saying the  118 power projects   will boost power supply when completed.
He advised investors to explore various opportunities in the power sector which he said, is expected to grow from N620 billion in 2013 to over N1 trillion in 2016. He said the commission is also  working on cost effective tariff to ensure good returns on investment.
Amadi, who was represented by the Deputy General Manager NERC, Abudulahi Mohammed, said huge opportunities abound in all subsectors of the Nigerian electricity supply industry, which he listed to include gas generation, transmission and distribution.
He, however, admitted there are challenges within the system, particularly in the area of gas supply, and explained that most power plants in the country were not working to full capacity.
“Almost all the 20 turbines in the gas-fired thermal generation plants have no gas or very little gas available for use as generating feedstock,” he said.
The NERC boss said the government was  handling the gas issue as a national emergency and is adopting short, medium and long term strategies to end the crisis, stressing that government is also exploring coal-to-power and other renewable energy channels for diversification.
On the issue of power transmission, he said there was need to prevail on the board of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to ensure that the Manitoba management contract was fully implemented.
“This includes, sourcing of funds to strengthen and expand the transmission network, even though a lot of investment is going into transmission,” he said.
He appreciated banks from Nigeria for supporting the sector and also encouraged them to continue to live up to expectation.
“Investments required in the power sector is highly capital intensive and long-term in nature. Capital market finance is especially attractive to project sponsors as it provides access to fixed-term debt over a longer-term than banks can offer. Thus, huge opportunities exist for increasing sponsors’ return on equity in an industry with huge growth potential,” Amadi added.
Speaking at the forum, President of NBCC, Adeyemi Adefulu, explained that Nigerians were impatient with the outcome of power privatisation in the country.
He said  many people are  still experiencing electricity blackout, and called for renewed assurance from stakeholders on the matter.
“We have long been discussing the issue of power generation and distribution. What we need now is to put our words into action,” he said.
He revealed that most of the privatisation carried out in the power sector were sponsored by financiers who are yet to get their money back. He therefore, called for strong regulations to safe guard the system in the interest of all.
He commended Amadi for efforts made in regulating the sector, adding that the chamber, as part of its re-engineering process, would continue to organise programmes that would foster better trade relations and provide directions for industry stakeholders in the country.

 

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