Electricity generation to hit 5,500MW this year –Nnaji

                                                      Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji

The Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, has said the nation will be generating 5,500 megawatts of electricity before the end of the year.

He said this while delivering a lecture titled, ‘Electricity Power in Nigeria: The Sun on this Rubble,’ at the Institute for Security Studies in Abuja on Monday.

The minister said a minimum of 1,000MW would be added to the national grid this year, bringing the quantum of electricity available to 5,500MW.

He said,”Before the end of July, there will be a remarkable improvement in power supply across the nation. Apart from improved supply from the hydro stations, there will be more gas for the thermal plants in places like Olorunshogo in Ogun State. What is more, some of the units at the NIPP plant at Ihonvbo in Edo State will have been inaugurated.
“A minimum of 1,00MW will be added to the national grid this year, bringing the quantum of power delivered to the grid to 5,500MW. Unlike in the past when there would be an improvement in power supply in one month only for it to dip the next month, the improvement this time will not be reversible. It can only get better, from month to month and from year to year.”

According to Nnaji, the National Integrated Power Projects implemented by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria would add about 4,700MW to the national grid.

“It is, among other things, adding 4,000 kilometers of transmission lines to the national electricity asset,” he added.

The minister said given the President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s devotion to electricity development, it was not surprising that the international community, which had for several years adopted a largely negative attitude towards Nigeria, was now showing an unparalleled interest in the sector.

When the Bureau of Public Enterprises called in 2010 for Expressions of Interest in the privatization of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s assets, the minister said 331 EoIs were received.

Source: Punch

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