By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has reiterated promises to remove all bottlenecks stopping the country from achieving maximum capacity in the power sector.
He said this during the groundbreaking ceremony of the first phase (350 MW) of the Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant (GIPP) on Friday, August 4, adding that the project is the first bold step by his administration in the power sector which will drive the economy.
“During my campaign, I promised Nigerians that our administration would remove all distribution bottlenecks are removed and they will be removed.
“We cannot become a productive economy unless we become efficient not just in our offices, paperwork, approvals, licenses, and opportunity for procurement and integrity/accountability, but also in electricity, generation and distribution.
“This project is a notice of our determination to bring positive change. This administration will resolve all power value chain challenges and reduce power-related hardship being experienced by too many of our citizens,” he said.
President Tinubu also stated that the country would leverage the use of gas as a transitional fuel to attract investments into the country.
“Through such investments, we shall annex the over 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas and all the reserves within our borders to develop our national infrastructure, create millions of new jobs/opportunities and stimulate economic growth in a rapid manner.”
According to President Tinubu, the landmark collaboration between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Nipco Plc on compressed natural gas (CNG) will improve access to CNG and accelerate the adoption of a cheaper and cleaner alternative fuel for buses, cars and keke napeps.
On his part, Mr Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited, said the Tinubu administration is committed to improving Nigeria’s power generation capacity for economic growth.
He said the groundbreaking of the Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant is an opportunity to monetize the country’s abundant gas resources by expanding access to energy to support economic growth, job creation and industrialization across the country.
According to Mr Kyari, the country is blessed with vast natural gas resources, and the NNPCL has invested heavily in domestic gas expansion projects, including the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline Project, which includes the Escravos Lagos Pipeline Systems, Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Gas Pipeline, and Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline.
He stated further that the project is part of the NNPC Limited’s mandate to add 5 gigawatts (GW) to the country’s power generation rate by 2024.
He said, “Currently, NNPCL and partners are delivering 800 MW to the national grid from Afam 6 and Okpai phase 1 thermal plant with a combined capacity of 1100 MW. We have also completed the Okpai phase 2 project that will add at least an additional 330 MW of power to the national grid.
“Our ambition is to develop small-scale captive power plants across the country so that transmission issues will not be a major concern. The GIPP is one of NNPCL’s flagship power projects, which will all be commercial and will cause no pain to Nigerians.”
Modupe Gbadeyanka