The Federal Government plans to increase the electricity generation in the country to 6,600 in 2012, the Minister of Power, Prof. Bath Nnaji, has said.

This means generating additional 1,000MW of electricity within the year. Although the Federal Government acquired the capacity to generate more than the 5,000MW targeted in 2011, actual generation fell below the figure because of inadequate gas supply.

Nnaji, who spoke with newsmen at the opening of the Nigerian Power Sector Retreat in Abuja on Friday, also disclosed that Nigerians were paying 1,000 workers of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, who were sitting idle at the company headquarters in Abuja.

He assured that arrangement was being concluded with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian Gas Company to flood power plants with enough gas to be able to step up to the desired generation capacity.

He said, “We have about 5,600MW already in place. We are expecting additional 1,000MW when our gas plants resume generation. The gas issue is also being addressed. The NNPC, NGC and the petroleum ministry have agreed to resolve the issue and all our plants would be wet again.

“We have actually made significant improvement in the area of power generation so far. We may not have done 100 per cent, given that with over 170 million people according to World Bank statistics, we should not be talking about just 6,600MW or even 8,000MW electricity generation, but significantly, we have made progress.”

Nnaji blamed government’s inability to reach 6,000MW generation capacity in 2011 on the poor management of projects handled by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company. He noted that only two NIPP plants were currently providing additional generation.

http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/electricity-fg-targets-6600-mw-in-2012/

We are phocking working - if as a Nigerian you are not happy - Hug the nearest transformer that has electricity