POWER: FG TARGETS 5,000MW BY DECEMBER

By NBF News

Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji
The Federal Government plans to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity by the end of the year, the Minister of Power, Prof. Bath Nnaji, has said.

Nnaji said this while speaking with newsmen after a closed-door meeting with the Governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sullivan Chime.

The minister said, 'We want to reach 5,000MW this year and add another 1,000MW next year, but I have said it before, our real target is 2014.'

Despite several targets, power in generation in the country has been hovering between 3,200 and 3,800MW.

Nnaji said with the collaboration of state governments on independent power projects, stable power supply would become a reality in Nigeria. He added that the reform of the power sector was on course.

Discussion between the minister and Chime centered on the possibility of establishing a coal-fired power plant in the state as well as revamping the Oji River Power Plant.

The minister, who chaired the Presidential Task Force on Power before his appointment, said the Federal Government could not discard the think-tank represented in the task force but would tap into it to realise the ultimate objective of power availability.

The task force produced the Road Map for Power Sector Reform inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan on August 20, 2010.

The road map hinged reform in the sector on the National Independent Power Projects and the sale of 18 successor companies to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to private sector core investors.

The Federal Government had in August 2010 stated that each of the companies must have been sold by May 29, 2011, at the expiration of the first tenure of the Yar'Adua/Goodluck Jonathan's administration.

But the Bureau of Public Enterprises had in a statement last week announced the revision of the timetable for the privatisation exercise, indicating that the bid evaluation process for the generation firms would be completed on February 14, 2012, while that for the distribution companies would be completed on February 28, 2012.

BPE said given the imperative of finalising industry agreements and the Multi-Year Tariff Order; it had revised the transaction timetable for the privatisation of the successor companies.

According to the agency, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and other key stakeholders are working towards finalising the industry agreements and MYTO.

The revised timetable also includes an extension of the deadline to confirm the intention to bid and pay the due fee for purchasing the Requests for Proposals documents.

The 11 distribution companies that are up for sale are Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc; and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company Plc.

Others are Jos Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Kano Electricity Distribution Company Plc; Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc; and Yola Electricity Distribution Company Plc.

The thermal power stations are the Ughelli Power Plc - situated in Delta area in South-South region of Nigeria with a total installed capacity of 972 MW and the Geregu Power Plc, situated in Kogi State in North Central Nigeria with a total installed capacity of 414 MW.

Others are the Afam Power Plc comprising Afam I-V power stations located in Rivers State in South-South Nigeria with an installed capacity of 776 MW; and the Sapele Power Plc located in Sapele, Delta State in South-South Nigeria with an installed capacity of 1020 MW.

The hydro power generating companies are the Kainji Power Plc comprising Kainji and Jebba power plants located in Niger and Kwara states respectively in North-Central Nigeria; and the Shiroro Power Plc located at the Shiroro Gorge, Niger State in North-Central Nigeria.