The federal government at the weekend assured Nigerians of improvement in power supply as soon as the $1.6 billion earmarked for the expansion and rehabilitation of the country’s transmission network is ready for disbursement.
It also foreclosed reviewing the withdrawal of subsidies in the power sector, saying the policy is no longer sustainable.
It added that the World Bank, in collaboration with some agencies in Nigeria, are helping in working out an exit route on the subsidy payment.
Director of Renewables and Rural Power Access, Mr. Faruk Yabo alongside the Special Adviser on Policy to the Minister of Power, Mr Abba Aliyu, spoke on the ministry’s projections for 2021. They explained that the federal government’s target of hitting 7,000 megawatts by the end of 2021 through the Siemens intervention programme is still on course.
Yabo said whereas January and December are usually characterised by serious power outages, due to changes in water level, 2020 was different, with the achievement of an all-year peak of 115mw per hour on December 11.
He attributed the “feat” to rejigging and realignment of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) by the Ministry of Power.
“Looking ahead, the ministry has five key focus areas, which if judiciously pursued, will lead us to better prospects. Number one is the issue of addressing the liquidity problems of the sector.
“It is very important for the sector to exit the current subsidy regime and happily enough, based on policies under the power recovery programme, the World Bank and other agencies are working with the sector to actually create an exit route through providing loans.
“These loans will allow for capping out of the subsidies in terms of the shortfall in the electricity market that will still allow for the payment of the generation, transmission and distribution cost, including metering, without having to continuously maintain the status quo. This is being vigorously pursued by all stakeholders.
“Second, is that the issue of alignment of the value chain will be dealt with. As we speak, we have about 13,000mw installed capacity, whereas generation and transmission stand at 8,000mw.
“Meanwhile, the total delivered peak power remains at 5,500mw, so the Siemens programme, which is coming to align the value chain, is one of those things we need to see, but the target is that by the end of 2021, we will have 7,000mw, by 2023, we will have 11,000mw and by 2025 we should have 25,000mw.
“This is being strongly complemented by the current TCN transmission and rehabilitation expansion programme, which is also heavily supported by the donors. I think we have currently about $1.6 billion available for this particular work,” he stated.