Nigeria's Sustainable Power Targets Need Sustained Political Focus - UNIDO

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar land, Texas)--Once again, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has put a marker down for the implementation of power additions to his country's sickly grid supply. At the end of last week, he said that 5,000 megawatts (MW) will be added to the grid by 2013 from 10 new power plants that are currently under construction.

Mr. President -- 2013 is next year!

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is backing the country's target of providing a sustainable power supply to the country by 2020.

With a reminder of the realities of the current situation and a litany of past missed targets, Dr. Kandeh Yurnkella, director general of UNIDO, urged the federal government to develop and implement a blueprint on cheap and sustainable energy that will transform the country into an industrial power house in the coming decades.

The director general said that Nigeria would need 20,000 MW over 20 years to be a power house. He also added that while private investors and international banks would be ready to lend Nigeria funds for power development, there were fears of policy changes because of change in government. He added that Nigeria's population is projected to hit 300 million in 25 years, and 90% of that population would be under 25 years old and would need employment.

The president has announced that construction is set to start on the 3,050-MW Mambilla hydropower project in Taraba state and the 700-MW Zungeru hydro plant in Niger state. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with Siemens for the production of 450 MW, and a 30-MW coal-fired project is being developed in a public-private partner scheme. Wind, solar and waste-to power-schemes are also under development.

"Limitless opportunities abound in renewable energy. Bearing this in mind, we have set national goals and developed a power sector roadmap that will fast-track our realization of the U.N.'s [United Nations] targets. At our current rate of power development, through the full implementation of the roadmap for the reform of the power sector, we plan to meet these targets by 2020," said the president.

The UNIDOI director general said that as a country with vast oil and gas reserves, abundant sunlight and significant hydropower potential, Nigeria should not be suffering an energy crisis. Over the year, the challenge had been formulating a consistent energy policy, he said. What is required now is sustained political focus, he added.

For related information, see July 13, 2012, article -Nigeria's Power Privatization Enters Final Phase and May 30, 2012, article -Nigeria Targets $20 Billion Over Three Years for Power sector Reforms.

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