From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

The Federal Government, the European Union (EU) and the French Development Agency (AFD), have signed a €25 million agreement to strengthen electricity grid in the Northwest.

The effort, according to the Embassy of France in Abuja, will witness the development of access to electricity by the Northwest region.

The Minister of State,  Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, and the Country Director of AFD in Nigeria, Xavier Muron, signed the agreement in Abuja.

The signing ceremony  was witnessed by the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, and the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Cecile Tassin-Pelzer.

“The Nigerian Government and the French Development Agency (AFD) have today signed a grant agreement of €25 million for the Northern Corridor Project jointly funded by the European Union and the AFD. The Honourable Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, and the AFD Country Director in Nigeria, Xavier Muron, signed the agreement in the presence of the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, and the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Cecile TASSIN-PELZER.

“The Northern Corridor Project, being implemented by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), is meant to strengthen a low-carbon economic growth in West Africa by improving the quality of the electricity network in Nigeria and supporting the development of a regional electricity market under the West African Power Pool (WAPP),” the Embassy  of France said.

The Embassy of France listed the objectives of the project, which are in line with the Nigerian Energy Transition Plan (ETP) to include reinforcing globally, the northwest network and develop access to electricity for the population; help evacuate and distribute the solar generated power from future projects in the North and participate in  the WAPP interconnection project with Niger Republic.

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“The project will build more than 800km of 330 kV double circuit transmission lines and construct or upgrade 13 substations.

“The grant agreement signed today represents the EU’s contribution to the project, while the AFD contribution of €202 million was signed in December 2020. The total cost of the project is around 238 million euros, including a 12 million euros contribution from TCN,” the Embassy of France also said.

The French Embassy added that expected impacts will be 5GW additional evacuation  capacity  to be created  under the project, potential transmission of 17TWh additional electricity every year, possibility of several millions of people to have access to electricity and a better electricity service on a short term, and the creation of 600 jobs – 500 during the construction phase and 100 in the operation phase.

In his remarks, Agba said: “This project will help TCN to operationalize its “Transmission Expansion Plan” through the construction of additional Transmission Lines and Substations across nine states in the northern part of the country – Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi and Nassarawa.”

Also speaking,  Muron highlighted the importance of the project as a technical enabler for the integration into the grid of the expected solar farms in the Northwest.

He noted that poor transmission network has been a significant bottleneck in many countries for the achievement of mix diversification.

On her part, Blatmann said: “France is committed to helping Nigeria achieve its commitments on climate change in line with the Paris agreement and she welcomes this Team Europe piece of work to address it.”

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Tassin-Pelzer said: “We appreciate this Team Europe collaboration with the Government of Nigeria, which is a concrete example of how the EU Global Gateway can contribute to major investments in infrastructure development.”