FG assures Nigerians of 4,500MW minimum electricity supply from 2018

The Federal Government says the implementation of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) will ensure a minimum baseline daily power supply of 4,500Mega Watts (MW) from 2018.
A fact sheet from the coordinators of the PSRP in Abuja indicated that PSRP would also prioritise operational and technical interventions to ensure stability of the national grid.
The PSRP is a series of policy actions, operational governance and financial interventions being implemented by Federal Government over the next five years to reset the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry for future growth.
The programme, among other objectives was designed to strengthen the sector’s institutional framework and improve power supply reliability to meet growing demand of electricity consumers in the country.
The document revealed that PSRP was also meant to improve performance of the Distribution Companies (DisCos) through a balance approach of incentive regulation, monitoring and enforcement to ensure aggressive reduction of technical and commercial losses.
This, According to the document will be archived through accelerated metering programme, upgrade of distribution and transmission interface networks to improve operational efficiency.
It also indicated that the PSRP would also address major issues constraining gas availability to the sector, notably  pipeline vandalism and payment arrears due to gas suppliers.
It said this was being archived through the provision of N701.9 billion payment assurance facility provided by government to guarantee payment of generation and gas invoices for 2017and 2018.
It said the facility was one of the funding sources to ensure companies in the sector received their revenue requirement from 2018.
The PSRP document also revealed that the World Bank had also expressed willingness to assist government with 2.5 billion dollars, adding that action plans were being taken by government to facilitate the release of the fund.
The document also highlighted strategies to restore governance structure, ensure transparency in the value chain through appointment of qualified persons and regular publication of key operational and financial information to the public.
It further indicated the financing plans to fund the historical deficit in the sector caused by tariff shortfall of N420billion from January 2015 to December 2016.
Other components of the PSRP include strategic plans to pay the historical Ministry, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) debts and mechanism to automate future payment of electricity bills.
It also encapsulated measures to develop and implement a communication strategy to facilitate stakeholder engagement and outreach to the public on the activities in the sector.
It said dedicated implementation monitoring team had been set up to coordinate and monitor implementation of the PSRP.