FG Plans Full Deregulation of Power Sector
The federal government yesterday stated that it planned to completely deregulate the NESI just like it did the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry, where it has fully removed subsidy.
Minister of Power, Mr. Sale Mamman, who spoke during a virtual event organised by Siemens Energy, Germany, also noted that by 2030, 30 per cent of the whole energy mix in the country will be based on renewable.
The forum also had in attendance Minister of Energy,
Benin Republic,
Mr Dona Jean-Claude Houssou;
Undersecretary,
Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, United Arab Emirates (UAE),
Mr Sharif Al Olama and Minister of Electricity, Iraq, Mr Majid El Emara, among others.
Mamman, who was represented by the Minister of State, Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, said with the strategy put in place by the federal government, the era of full government funding of power supply and right state control was over.
He said: “In the past,
the power system was state-controlled, leading to low participation. But with market restructuring, that is changing and that is with less rigid control by the government.
“The central strategy in the power sector due to the severe inadequacy of infrastructure is thus a significant development, which is hinged on harmony and active participation of various public and private stakeholders in the industry.
“Further down the line, the market will still evolve towards complete deregulation and more commercially focused partnerships, further emphasising this harmony between the public and private sector and sustainability of the industry.”
He said the partnership with Siemens will improve Nigeria’s electricity supply, adding that the federal government recently set up initiatives to bring about better energy supply to the people through vision 3030.
“This is targeted at delivering 30,000,000 watts of electricity with a 30 per cent renewable energy mix by 2030.
This is a key focus of our strategy to avail Nigeria of reliable power supply,” he stated.
According to him, the federal government is currently embarking on grid modernisation and expansion plan which will add 25,000MW of operational capacity to the bulk power system within the next six years, which will be further supported by five million solar home systems and mini-grids for underserved Nigerians.
In his comments, the Executive Vice President, Generation, Siemens Energy, Mr Karim Amin, stated that the company was set to remove all the bottlenecks in the generation and distribution of power in Nigeria.
“Nigeria has a generation capacity of 13,000mw, but only a small portion of this reaches the consumers. So, Siemens energy and the Nigerian government are working together right now on a critical project aimed at removing the roadblocks in the transmission and distribution systems.
“The eventual goal is to develop a system that can deliver 25,000 MW of electricity across the country,” Amin said.
Managing Director, Siemens Nigeria, Onyeche Tifase,
who anchored the session, said it was unacceptable that over 850 million people do not have access to electricity and most of them reside in Africa, noting that Siemens is set to rectify the problem.
