#GEJAchievements in Power Sector: Reforms Before President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, efforts to reform the power sector did not succeed in raising outputs or laying the requisite foundation for sustainable improvements in power generation, transmission and distribution. However, the power sector reforms embarked on by President Jonathan’s administration have laid the foundation for sustainable improvement with promising results. In the Northwest, power sector reforms are improving reliability of and access to electricity. Total installed generation capacity has steadily increased from about 8,500 MW before President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to just under 10,000MW now, while average installed capacity has nearly doubled as a result of the reforms. When completed, the Galma HydroPower Station in Kaduna will generate 2.5 megawatts of electricity. In addition to this additional power to the national grid, the Galma Hydro-Power station in Kaduna will also provide about 150 million litres of water per day to the people of Kaduna state. The Northwest has recorded a reduction in the proportion of households experiencing frequent blackouts from 43% to 18%. System reliability has also improved significantly during the President Jonathan’s administration. The total number of system collapse has decreased from 22p.a. before the reforms to 15p.a. currently. More also, Power Distribution to the Northwest at 33/11 MVA after the reforms of President Goodluck Jonathan was up by 22 from 368 for the Kaduna Disco and from 397 to 483 in Kano. This has been made possible by increased allocation of electricity to the two distribution companies in the Northwest, Kaduna Disco and Kano Disco. In addition, access to electricity has significantly improved from 36.6% before the administration came into office to 42.2% as at 2013. Rather than tell you what we could do to improve power, this administration demonstrated it by initiating a brand new national Super Grid as well as launching a concrete Road Map to the Power Sector with realistic goals tied to realistic dates. I discovered that by insisting that the right things be done, we could begin a turnaround in our power sector by involving the private sector in power generation and distribution. As you can see from the lower quantities of diesel that you are buying today, power generation has significantly improved. To improve reliable power supply, our administration is judiciously implementing the Power Sector Roadmap, which is at an advanced stage, to reduce the cost of electricity to rural households and the urban poor. The commitment of our Administration to the provision of regular and uninterrupted power supply remains strong and unwavering. We all agree that adequate and regular power supply will be the significant trigger to enhance this nation’s productive capacity and accelerate growth. It is for this reason that I remain optimistic that the reforms we have initiated, the decisions we have taken so far and the plans we intend to faithfully prosecute will yield the desired results. By mid-2010, the national power output was about 2,800 MW. By the end of 2011, we reached a peak of more than 4,000 MW. A National Gas Emergency Plan has also been launched to redress the problem of gas supply which arose essentially due to poor planning. Our approach in reforming the power sector is two-pronged: First, is the immediate repair of power plants, as well as transmission and distribution infrastructure in the short term. The second is the building of institutions and the provision of enablers to attract investors. We revived and accelerated the completion of the National Integrated Power Projects. We are also building about 4000km of transmission lines and hundreds of substations. This is in addition to the construction of Mambilla and Zungeru Hydro power plants which will add about 3,000 MW to the national grid. For long-term power availability, we have strengthened a number of key institutions such as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Bulk Trader, the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, and others. We are also working with the World Bank to provide guarantees for gas and power providers. In the power sector, the privatisation programme attracted expression of interest from 131 companies across the globe. Our decision to bring in the private sector is clearly intended to achieve our target of generating and distributing sufficient and reliable power within the shortest time possible. With the measures we have put in place, we will surely achieve success in transforming the power sector. We rehabilitated our hydro-power plants for optimal capacity utilisation and embarked on the construction of ten power plants. This is in addition to renewing our transmission and distribution capacity to ensure adequate power supply to all parts of the country. We developed the Gas Master-Plan as a roadmap to fully harness our gas potentials and meet the challenges of gas supply to our power plants. In pursuit of our envisioned future for the power sector, our administration also signed an MoU with Eletrobras of Brazil to invest in both thermal and hydro generating sources as well as in the transmission network of Nigeria. The PoweWaterr Construction Corporation (PCC) of China is yet another international partner that has signed an MOU with the Federal Government to invest in the construction of 20,000 mw gas power and 10,000km transmission line. We have completed new units at the thermal power stations to increase existing generation capacity. This was done in the following locations: Olorunshogo in Ogun State, 563MW; Sapele in Delta State, 225 MW; and Omotosho in Ondo State, 112.5MW. Xian Electric Engineering Co. Ltd has partnered with us for the financing and turnkey delivery of Nigerian Transmission Upgrading Project to the tune of $1 billion. Other efforts aimed at stabilising the power sector include development of 2 x 1000mw coal-fired power plants at Enugu, Gombe, Kogi and Benue axis; and 27 small/medium hydropower projects. Under our administration, the Federal Ministry of Finance constituted the Technical Monitoring Committee to coordinate African Development Bank’s support loan of $185.2 million to the power sector. Kick-off of the Access to Power Initiative (Operation Electrify Nigeria) of the Federal Ministry of Power is one of the milestones of our administration.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:24:21 +0000
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