THE Federal Government has unveiled fresh measures to boost power supply after it failed to meet the target of 6,000 megawatts by December, 2009.
The Minister of Power, Dr. Lanre Babalola, said with recent improvement in actual power generation to 3,700MW, the government had intensified its effort to ensure that the various projects in the transmission and distribution sectors of the industry were vigorously pursued to boost electricity delivery to the final consumers.
To this end, over 1,106 projects were embarked upon to enhance delivery of power generated to consumers.
According to the minister, out of these projects, 428 have been completed while 678 are now at various stages of completion, adding that these projects would support about 2,740 MVA or 2,349MW in the national grid in addition to the existing distribution capacity.
The minister said the activities of the ministry had revolved around rehabilitation and reinforcement of existing facilities.
He explained that without adequate reinforcement and expansion in the network, whatever achievement was recorded would not have the desired impact.
He explained that the task before the administrators of the power sector was enormous but that it was surmountable bearing in mind that the progress recorded in power generation was a clear demonstration of the administration’s absolute commitment to the issue of power generation and distribution.
“We are tackling the problems in the sector by improving our capacity which is currently over 5,600MW and we are also reinforcing both transmission and distribution networks so that we can deliver this power to Nigerians. We have the capacity and with availability of gas, more electricity will be delivered,” he said.
According to Babalola, activities in the sector are ongoing and they take years to mature from initial conception, to design, engineering and construction.
He stressed that with effective monitoring of the activities of contractors handling the independent power projects, there was no doubt that before too long, Nigerians would begin to see more relief in power supply. He added that the head of distribution companies had been given autonomy to take vital decisions in addressing the challenges in their respective zones.
According to him, Nigerians deserve improved services in power supply and that the ministry is doing everything possible to improve on service delivery.
The minister also listed a number of ongoing rehabilitation projects aimed at improving power supply in 2010. These projects include 130MW Afam V, 200MW in Delta, 200MW Afam VI, 90MW from Jebba hydropower and 440Mw from unit six in Lagos thermal station in Egbin.
Babalola stated further that as part of a diversification strategy to shore up operations in the power sector, preliminary work had been concluded on the proposed 215MW low pour fuel /gas power plant in Kaduna, 300MW coal-fired power plant, 250MW crude/gas-fired power plant,700MW hydro-power plant in Zungeru and 50MW small and mini hydro-power plants. The projects are expected to deliver power in three to four years.
According to him, government has also engaged a consultant to undertake a detailed review of the feasibility study done on the proposed 2,600MW Mambilla hydro power station, adding that a contract for the tender document in respect of Zungeru power station had since been awarded.
In order to engage the private sector effectively in power business, the Minister said Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Gas Supply Purchase Agreement (GSPA) as well as Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) had been drafted in line with international standards to facilitate private sector involvement in the industry.
According to him, these documents are vital as bankable instruments that help would-be investors to obtain loans or to access other financial sources that would aid investment in the power sector.
He pointed out that while all these enabling conditions were being addressed, the issue of qualified manpower that would deliver the targets as well as gas not only to power some of the idle power plants but the ones being planned, were equally receiving greater attention from the ministry.