NDPHC, GE Sign Deal to Boost Power Supply in Nigeria

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A deal to boost power supply in Nigeria has been signed between GE and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).

The collaboration, Business Post gathered, is aimed at developing an End-To-End to Power Intervention (EEIP) in the country.

This week, both parties signed a Letter of Intention (LOI) during the France-Nigeria Business Forum held in Lagos, one of several events hosted during the visit of President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to Nigeria.

GE’s EEIP is aimed at delivering incremental power from the NIPP’s underutilized or stranded capacity to several industrial and commercial hubs through multiple solutions across the entire electricity value chain.

Under the agreement, GE will provide End-to-End power solutions across the value chain to deliver 2.5GW of Power.

The company will also provide financing support for the power projects including funding for the refurbishment of distribution and transmission infrastructure amongst other critical support services to analyse and improve the power value chain.

The Letter of Intent also states the willingness of BPIFrance (the French export credit agency) to provide financing support given that the technology to be deployed in this project will be manufactured in GE Power’s facilities in France.

The collaboration will see NDPHC partner with GE to work with Discos, TCN and other relevant stakeholders, to identify and prioritize critical projects to reduce technical and commercial losses. The focus will be on the expansion, repair and upgrade of all critical transmission and distribution infrastructure.

According to Lazarus Angbazo, CEO & President of GE Nigeria, “GE is proud to partner with an organization of high repute like NDPHC. There is an alignment in our objectives to drive positive change in Nigeria’s power industry so this partnership is a good fit and we look forward to positive outcomes in the near future.”

In the same vein, Chiedu Ugbo, MD/CEO of NDPHC expressed the company’s delight to work with GE in delivering end-to-end solutions under the EEIP’s mandate.  He said that the collaboration will bring about a much-needed boost to the Nigerian power sector.

GE and the Federal Government of Nigeria signed a Country to Company agreement in 2014 to achieve the country’s additional electric power generation capacity target of 10,000 MW. With the acquisition of Alstom by GE, approximately 70 percent of Nigeria’s gas-powered electricity generation currently runs on GE technology. GE delivers across the entire energy ecosystem for Nigeria’s national development, from generation to transmission and distribution as well as Multi-year service agreements.