Abuja — The federal government yesterday signed a $118 million deal with Elsewedy and Power China to construct and rehabilitate over 2,670 kilometres of electricity distribution lines across the country under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).
In his remarks at the event, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said that the project will complement ongoing midstream transmission projects to secure power delivery to residential, commercial, and industrial clusters across Nigeria.
Adelabu said the signing ceremony was for one of the lots under the PPI transmission infrastructure enhancement projects, also known as the Siemens Project, covering Enugu and Benin axis of the transmission network.
"The ceremony is quite significant as it is a testament to the readiness of the federal government to quickly accelerate the upgrade of transmission infrastructure in the Nigerian power sector, which will ultimately achieve the stability that we have all been craving for in electricity supply.
"This will enhance power to our households, to our businesses, to our industries, to create jobs for youths and to also ensure that we produce what we consume here.
"It will also enable us to achieve export processing and promote export for increased earnings for foreign exchange and also reduce pressure on foreign exchange that we require for importation of goods and services that we consume here.
"We believe that with a very strong and resilient power sector, the industries will be energised and we have more of our people being engaged in productive activities. We'll be able to also energise our health and educational institutions to run properly and also boost the fortunes of our small and medium scale enterprises, with agri-processing to achieve food security.
"Rural dwellers will engaged in productive activities and also achieve the targeted energy access expansion for our people from the current penetration of less than 52 per cent to as high as 80 to 90 per cent in the years to come," Adelabu said.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of FGN Power, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) mandated to implement the PPI, Mr. Kenny Anuwe, said the proven expertise and commitment to excellence of the partners make them ideal parties for delivering on the critical infrastructure.
"Siemens, known for its strengths in advanced technology and innovation, does not specialise in distribution lines. Therefore, it was a strategic decision to collaborate with Elsewedy, bearing in mind the successful partnership between both companies in Egypt.
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"This partnership with Elsewedy Electric will ensure the highest quality and efficiency in delivering the necessary infrastructure. Together, we will combine our strengths and deliver comprehensive solutions to meet Nigeria's growing energy and infrastructure needs," he said.
The project is expected to deliver the construction of 687 kilometres of new distribution lines (greenfield) and the rehabilitation of 1,983 kilometres of existing lines (brownfield).
Disclosing that the project would cost about $118 million, Anuwe added that President Bola Tinubu was of the view that with reliable power supply, many defunct firms will be revived.
"Mr. President also has a very soft spot for the eastern part of Nigeria and he believes that the industries there must be revived. As the Honourable Minister said, these are important projects to the administration and the importance of this cannot be over-emphasised.
"So what we're doing here today is basically kicking off the activities of the implementation arrangements that we've been working very hard in the background to do over the past year and a half or so," Anuwe pointed out.
The PPI aims to enable the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) achieve commercial autonomy by facilitating investments in critical infrastructure to support power delivery and service to Nigerians.
