Investors Jostle for $24.9bn Power Projects in Nigeria

By Adedapo Adesanya

Investors will jostle for four power projects worth $24.9 billion spread in key cities of the nation following a proposal by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The proposal on Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Energy Infrastructure Opportunities presented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the United States Commercial Service listed the locations of the projects as Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.

In addition, the Ogidingbe Gas Industrial Park Projects was also part of those investments opportunities in gas-powered plants and gas-based industries listed.

Other facilities include the 1350 megawatts (MW) Abuja Thermal Power plant project worth $1.7 billion, Kaduna 900 MW thermal power plant project worth $1.3 billion, 135 MW Kano thermal plant project worth $1.9 billion.

The $20 billion Ogidingbe Gas Industrial Park Projects which contains 2.4 billion cubic feet Central Processing Facility, 2.6 Million Tonnes Per Annum Fertilizer plants (MTPA), 1.3 MTPA Polyethylene and 400,000 Tonnes Per Annum Polypropylene/Xylene plants, and a 450 MW Thermal Power plant project, FTZ base Infrastructure 400,000 TPA Polypropylene/Xylene plants (Jetties and intra-park roads) were also listed.

According to the document, the projects are in line with President Buhari’s decade of gas agenda which seeks to make Nigeria, a global force in the gas sector. According to data, Nigeria has over 202 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserve.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources said “Nigeria welcomes foreign investors to invest in the oil and gas industry. In deepening domestic gas utilization and monetization of our huge gas resources, the year 2020 is declared as the Year of Gas.”

On his part, Mr Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, said the strategic objective is “re-focusing NNPC into an integrated energy company driven by Global Excellence.”

The NNPC is the largest asset holder across the Nigerian oil and gas industry value chain with over four decades of operating expertise and through its joint ventures contract welcomes other players into the country.