Abuja — All doubts as to whether the country can attain its set target of 6,000mw of power can now be put at bay as the Minister of Power, Dr. Rilwan Olanrewaju Babalola, has assured Nigerians that government's plan to generate and distribute 600mw of power by December 2009 is feasible and realistic.
Babalola gave the assurance yesterday in Abuja at a meeting with newsmen where he stressed that the ministry is aware of all the challenges before it, which include, but are not limited to, weak and aging infrastructure, inadequate transmission and transformation capacity at 330kv and 132kv voltage level, inadequate protection systems and inadequate control and communication system.
Other problems of the nation's distribution network identified by the minister are aged and obsolete switchgear and protection equipment, faulty lines and substations, overloaded distribution transformers and inadequate network maintenance materials.
He, however, maintained that the ministry is confident of attaining the set target because the challenges before it are those that can be easily and successfully addressed and are provided for in the PEP and the 2009 appropriation.
Babalola further stated that as part of plans towards actualisation of the target, strategies had been adopted to generate at least 6000mw, which include the government providing necessary support to the existing IPPs, which are AES (288mw), Okpai (480mw) Afam VI (300mw) and Omoku (75mw) totalling 1,143mw for sustaining these capabilities.
Other strategies he disclosed is to provide adequate autonomy and resources to the existing power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) generation successor companies and hold them accountable and responsible for sustaining their respective current actual generation capability, as well as providing the IPP's with adequate resources units in their various plants.
He said if all the above issues are addressed, the nation's generation capability shall rise to 6,574mw by the target date.The minister reiterated that by the attainment of 6000mw, there would definitely be a substantial improvement in the sector, the quality of power would improve and some industrialists who had opted out due to the power situation would likely come back with the new distribution.
On the issue of gas needed for the target, Babalola hinted that the total gas requirement for the 6,574mw to be generated is 1,560mw scoffs per day as against the 560mw scoffs per day they were currently getting, which implies that an additional 1,000mw scoffs was required if the target is to be met.
Some of the problems of gas which the government had identified and is looking into are quality of gas supplied, inadequacy of infrastructure and militancy vandalism of pipelines which leads to disruption in the flow of gas.
He, therefore, urged all Nigerians to be positive about the plans of government, stressing that no other sector commands the interest the power sector does and it behoves on support of Nigerians to work.
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WE AGAIN OFFER TO PROVIDE 6000 MW OF POWER BY JAN 01 2010 WHEN A ESCROW ACCOUNT IS ESTABLISH OF $ 2 BILLION DOLLARS FOR OUR COMPANY. WILL BE GIVEN $ 3 BILLION MORE AT THE END OF JAN 01 2010, WHEN THE 6000 MW HAVE BEEN DELIVER. WE WILL START WHEN ACCOUNT HAS BEEN ESTABLISH THE OFFER ENDS ON APRIL 1, 2009. NO UPFRONT FUNDS OR ANYTHING ELSE JUST THE ACCOUNT. WATCOINC@MSN.COM
OK. In good faith, we will give the Minister the benefit of the doubt given the seemingly honest details he provided to back up his assurance. However, the Minister predicated his assurance on a condition precedent of a peaceful Niger Delta. This requires the President to emphasize dialogue rather than force in dealing with the Deltans. Unlike the past assurances that turn out to be empty rhetoric, we sincerely hope to celebrate Dec 2009 and thereafter with un-interrupted power supply or else President YarAdua might as well kiss goodbye his re-election bid or simply step aside. Nobody wants our President to fail nor do we need to be rude to him. However, we must hold all politicians accountable, by any means necessary, to their promises like this critical one we do not live, nor do we intend to live in the dark ages anymore where the masses (electorates your bosses) are taken for a ride, consistently, without consequence. You have our support, for now, and good luck.