President Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled a new power target for
the country, following the signing of electricity road map
agreement between the Federal Government and German-based
Siemens.
The signing of the implementation agreement was held at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday.
The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE),
Dr. Alex Okoh signed on behalf of the federal government and the
Chief Executive Officer of the Siemens, Mr. Joe Kaeser signed for
the firm.
The deal, our correspondent reports, was the product of a
meeting President Buhari held with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel
on August 31, 2018.
Speaking during the signing of the agreement, the president said
the government’s goal was to deliver electricity to Nigerian
businesses and homes.
The target are in three phases. 7,000 megawatts in 2021, 11,000
in 2023 when the president’s second term will elapse. The final
phase has a target of 25,000mw.
The president said: “My challenge to Siemens, our partner
investors in the Distribution Companies, the Transmission Company
of Nigeria and the Electricity Regulator is to work hard to achieve
7,000 megawatts of reliable power supply by 2021 and 11,000
megawatts by 2023 – in phases 1 and 2 respectively.
“After these transmission and distribution system bottlenecks
have been fixed, we will seek – in the third and final phase – to
drive generation capacity and overall grid capacity to 25,000
megawatts.”
He said, with the strong commitment to the development of
Mambilla Hydroelectric and the various solar projects under
development across the country, the long-term power generation
capacity will ensure adequate energy mix and sustainability in the
appropriate balance between urban and rural electrification.
“Our intention is to ensure that our cooperation is structured
under a Government-to-Government framework. No middlemen will be
involved, so that we can achieve value for money for Nigerians. We
also insist that all products be manufactured to high quality
German and European standards and competitively priced.
“This project will not be the solution to all our problems in
the power sector. However, I am confident that it has the potential
to address a significant amount of the challenges we have faced for
decades,” he said.
“It is our hope that as the power situation improves, we will
improve investor confidence, create jobs, reduce the cost of doing
business and encourage more economic growth in Nigeria,” he
said.
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