The plan by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity for the country in the next three to ten years is commendable. If achieved, it would almost double the present national output, which is hovering between 3,000 and 5,000 MW. The good news was broken by Engineer Saidu Mohammed, NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, who also disclosed that the plan would be achieved through the building of independent power plants, using the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) model.
Power has posed a serious challenge to Nigeria for many decades. Coming on the heels of the total neglect of power infrastructure in the last decade of military rule, and the realisation of the importance of adequate power to rapid economic development, it was glaring that a lot needed to be done to bridge the power deficit with the country’s return to democracy in 1999. The Olusegun Obasanjo administration, in its eight-year tenure, committed over $16 billion to the power challenge, but sadly, not much changed.
Some state governments, too, have over the years expended substantial energy and resources on the power challenge, but were discouraged and the projects aborted because the then federal laws only permitted them to produce electricity and transmit it to the national grid, without having a say in its distribution. This was a serious morale dampener for the states.
With the realisation of some of these failings, and the understanding that the power challenge requires all hands on deck, the law has been relaxed somewhat to allow investments from all quarters from home and abroad to address this huge national embarrassment. Power, along the entire value chain, is very expensive to provide and it would require the best of new investments and integrated solutions to meet the national adequacy figure, which is put at 40,000mw.
This is why all right-thinking citizens should welcome the NNPC initiative to add 4,000mw to the national power pool. It is good that this initiative is to be structured along the NLNG model, which is working very well and has delivered good results in the past 15 years or more of its operation. The NLNG is a 49:51 percentage public /private ownership structure with the private component wholly in charge of running its affairs.
Although many Nigerians are skeptical about the ability of government agencies to deliver on schemes such as the one proposed by the NNPC, we urge the agency to commence the processes that will lead to the delivery of the additional megawatts with all sense of seriousness.
From the information available, the plan is to incorporate Joint Venture Companies that would involve the NNPC, international power companies and other local investors, to deliver on the declared mandate of 4,000mw within the stipulated time frame of three to ten years.
When we add the gain from this plan to the ongoing efforts in some states, the hope is that the nation will gradually begin inching towards optimal power production, and eventually galvanise the resources for rapid national development. Edo State alone plans to add an additional 2,000 megawatts to the national grid through the almost completed Azura thermal plant, which will deliver 450mw, the Ihovbor power station, which will deliver an additional 450mw , and the proposed 1,000mw from the Gelegele seaport. The story is the same for Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Lagos, Delta, Abia and Kano states, where a number of private sector initiatives and federal government-assisted NIPPs and IPPs are ongoing.
At the end of the current administration, it is hoped that the power challenge in the country would have been substantially surmounted with the various schemes.
We heartily welcome the NNPC initiative and advise that it should not fail. Let the leadership of the corporation move forward with optimism and do whatever is required to achieve the objective.