NEWS ANALYSIS: Appraising the feats of the Jonathan-administration in the power sector
Appraising the feats of the Jonathan-administration in the power sector
A News Analysis by Jacinta Nwachukwu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Unarguably, power remains cardinal to the socio-economic development of any country.
This truism, perhaps, explains why President Goodluck Jonathan has placed considerable emphasis on the development of the country’s power sector.
The president launched the Roadmap on Power in 2010, five years of inactivity after the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.
In line with the roadmap, the Jonathan-administration completed the handover of the country’s electricity generating companies (GenCos) and electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to new private sector owners on Nov.1, 2013.
This singular act was widely acclaimed as one of the most transparent privatisation exercises in Africa.
A document from the Ministry of Power describes the power reform as a catalyst to the country’s economic transformation.
It lists the benefits of the power sector reform initiative as improved electricity supply to homes and businesses under the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), more jobs, higher GDP and increased household incomes.
Other benefits include improved standards of living, improved youth employment and social security.
The Ministry of Power observes that with the privatisation of the power sector, electricity generation has increased significantly from 2800MW in 2011 to about 4517MW, resulting in more hours of power availability per day in major cities across the country.
“Besides, gas to power has increased from 380mmscf/d in 2010 to 1000mmscf/d in 2014, while over 450km of gas pipelines have completed, with all power generation plants now connected to permanent gas infrastructure,’’ the records of the ministry indicate.
In the area of rural electrification, the Federal Government initiated a programme, “Operation Light up Rural Nigeria’’, in January 2014, with a view to providing electricity for “off-Grid’’ rural communities via renewable energy.
The ministry notes that many rural communities, which were electrified with solar technology under the programme, recently celebrated one year of uninterrupted power supply.
Going from the general to the specifics, nearly all the 10 hitherto abandoned National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) have been completed, bringing additional 4,700MW to the grid.
Besides, the ministry says that electricity transmission lines in the country have been increased by 4,550km in 2010 to 15,760km in 2015, while transmission substations have increased from 121 to 162, with additional 122 projects under construction.
The electricity distribution capacity of the power sector has almost tripled from 3,658MW in 2010 to 9,200MW in 2014 due to the inauguration of several NIPP distribution projects.
In a nutshell, over 4,000 rural communities have, since 2010, been connected to the National Grid.
The Ministry of Power says new projects such as the 700MW Zungeru Hydro Power Project, the 3,050MW Mambilla Hydro Power Project and the 215MW Kaduna Thermal Power Plant, among others, are currently being executed.
Moreover, the country’s first coal-to-power plant in Itobe, Kogi, being constructed by Zuma Energy Nigeria Ltd., will soon be inaugurated.
By most accounts, one of the major achievements of Nigeria’s power sector privatisation programme under the Jonathan-administration is the upgrade of the Egbin Power Plant.
The Ministry of Power says that N50 billion had been invested in the thermal plant to revitalise its sixth turbine which has since been moribund; thus adding 220MW to the National Grid.
Also, the power generation capacity of Ughelli Power Plant has been improved from 160MW to 610MW, with plans to further boost it by 1,000MW soon.
As regards Kainji Hydro Power Plant, its electricity generation capacity has increased from 80MW to 230MW, with plans underway to achieve a 470MW level, while Jebba Hydro Power Plant’s capacity has increased from 450MW to 546MW.
As part of efforts to stabilise the privatised power sector, the Jonathan-administration, through the CBN Intervention Fund, released N213 billion as loan to the electricity industry to offset legacy gas and power debts as well as shortfalls in the Interim Rule Period (IRP).
It is, nonetheless, pertinent to recognise the power sector’s human capacity development efforts of the administration.
The Ministry of Power says that over 3,000 engineers have been hired for the sector after over 16 years of zero recruitment under previous administrations.
Besides, more than 7,400 youths have received training under the ongoing National Power Sector Apprenticeship Scheme (NAPSAS).
Nevertheless, the ministry insists that continuous vandalism of gas pipelines is the greatest challenge facing effective power delivery in the country.
It cites 60 major incidents of pipeline vandalism between June 2014 and March 2015, noting that the vandals’ attacks usually occur whenever power generation level rises above 4,000MW.
It, however, says that the Federal Government has increased surveillance on gas pipelines across the country so as to boost their security.
All in all, the Ministry of Power describes the power reform as work in progress, saying that the Nigerian experience is already a model for all other countries in Africa.
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7 Comments
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This analysis is somewhat difficult to accept as things stand. The claims of generation capacity increases simply do not add up. At worst ine is temped to ask “where then is all the power generated” since the industries are still moribund and the domestic homes are blistering hot and in near total darkness most of the time? Beside late president Umaru did indeed started and paid for a wind turbine station in Katsina state, where is that project today seven years later??
Crap. was this article “paid for”?
All is wash, wash stories, President – Elect should revisit SAPELE POWER PLANT sales why the owners cant perform, and how they won the bidding without Financial support and BPE knew the guy was inolved in Subsidy Marketer scam and EFFC have a case with him, Government should deal with them period,, they scam and fraud also cheat the Nation alright.
some people can’t even define the words they use.
The Nigerian energy crisis is criminal judging by the amount of money already pumped into it. Nigerian government are used to putting the cart before the horse.When we have too many personal advisers so there will be confusion every where.There was no planning put in place for the regular supply of gas which is the major raw material for electricity generation.GMB please solve this electricity riddle .You can be sure your name will be written in gold . Nigeria will be Great again.
I wish this story was told in 2014 with the improvements in electricity recently observed!
We will review and take appropriate action.