FG targets 12,000mw for uninterrupted power supply

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, on Monday, said the Federal Government was targeting 12,000 megawatts electricity generation to stabilise power supply in the country.
Igali said in Abuja that power generation would go above 5,000 megawatts in December 2015, adding that the immediate target was 12,000 megawatts.
“From our studies, if we have 12,000 mw, we can have 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply in the country, both for domestic and industrial use,’’ he said, adding, “and then, we now begin to grow from there.”
He remarked that Nigerians were unfair in criticising the power sector, pointing out that after privatisation, the sector required huge long-term investments for results.
Reacting to criticisms that the N2.7 trillion spent on the power sector since 1999 was not properly utilised, Igali said that the sector was capital-intensive.
“Nigerians may not be too fair to the power sector; I don’t have to defend what has been spent blindly because I was not even there.
“But, from a technical point of view, those amounts are not outside the range of what should have been spent because a gas turbine, the smallest one, costs N40 billion.
“A transformer, which is the smallest unit in the power sector, the smallest size is N2.5 million, while the huge transmission transformer goes for as much as N1 billion.
“So, these are things that are really capital intensive; it is one of the most expensive sectors in any part of the world.
“But, go to other sectors like road construction and so on, you will see that government has not spent less because these are huge capital expenditures,” he stressed.
He stated that as part of efforts to increase generation, the ministry was diversifying its apparatus and championing the development of solar power, adding that one megawatt of electricity could be generated from one hectare of land.
The permanent secretary, therefore, called on state governors, especially those from the North, to avail investors in solar energy adequate land to set up solar infrastructure.
“The ministry is championing the development of solar power because solar power has come to stay.
“That is why we tell the state governors to give land to those that want to build solar power.
“Many times when investors come and we send them to the states, they push them up and down because that one hectare is denying a lot of farmers from using their land.
“But in the north, there is a lot of land and I think the northern states, where there is a lot of sunshine and land, should encourage solar energy,” Igali said.