The Federal Government will require a minimum of $10 billion (about N1.5trillion) in annual investment in power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure if it is to guarantee stable electricity supply in the country.

Special Adviser to the President on Power, Barth Nnaji, who stated this at the weekend as guest in a national television programme monitored in Abuja, said the insistence for private sector partnership in the development of the nation’s power sector is based on the point that government alone cannot handle the responsibility.

“At least $5billion is required every year to take care of infrastructure for power generation, while additional $5billion is needed to deal with distribution and transmission facilities. The government just cannot afford it. It is far beyond what government can invest in all sectors.

“There is need for both foreign and local investors to come in so that the system can become more robust and for the nation to get away from talking about 3,500 mega watts (MW) to the quantum of power that other developing and advanced countries have. That is when the country can begin to talk about stimulation of the economy,” he said.

Mr. Nnaji said, for the first time steps have been taken to remove the bottlenecks that have always frustrated efforts by previous administrations to permanently address the problem, pointing out that apart from the Electricity Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), passed to provide the legal framework for effective operations, government has also established a holistic plan that connects players from wholesale generation and distribution, to how consumers would benefit under the new regime.

“This is the first time that government would march implementation with plans, by way of implementation of the Act, and actually taking steps to begin to actualize most of the plans that have been on the drawing board since the early 1980s”, citing the issue of construction of hydro stations, like the Mambilla power Station, which has been since 1982, adding that for the first time government has moved towards actual implementation.

Too big for government

In spite of the efforts, the presidential adviser, who is also the Chairman, Geometric Power Limited, which is handling the construction of an Independent Power Plant (IPP) in Aba, Abia State, said government has since realized it cannot solve the problem alone.

“The private sector must step in and take responsibility in providing electricity in the country,” he said, adding “that is why the president is saying that from next year generation and distribution will go into private hands as a way of reducing all kinds of issues that are in the system, including the corruption.

Asked if the private sector would not be overwhelmed by the high level of corruption, which has rendered their involvement in other sectors unsuccessful, Mr. Nnaji said: “Private sector cannot corrupt itself. If one invests money, one cannot steal from oneself. It is just the bottom line. It is only when people are looking at government as another establishment that that can happen. Private sector would drive efficiency and sustainability and ensures that there is actual investment, so that the Federal Government does not continue to be the only one to invest.”

“We are beginning to have more stable supply of power, though there are some areas with transformer challenges. This modest improvement will continue until the country reaches adequacy of supply.

Over the coming months, consumers are going to witness this improvement.”

Ready private sector

An Infrastructure Specialist, Oliver Andrew, who also appeared as guest on the programme, said there is a credible government plan in place to address the challenge of infrastructure in the power value chain under the road map launched recently by the government.

He identified the plan to include issues of facilities to take care of fuel supply to the power generation plants; strategy for power evacuation; liberalization of the gas sector under the National Gas Master Plan (NGMP); involvement of independent power distribution companies to handle the distribution of the power generated to the consumers in line with the dictates of the market forces.

According to Mr. Andrew, the private sector is now ready to come in with the infrastructure needed to get the sector running having seen that government has plugged the gaps, pointing out the N500 billion Infrastructure Intervention Fund by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the provision of more capital for infrastructural development will help attract more foreign direct investment (FID) to facilitate the needed short term impact.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5618238-147/government_requires_n1.5trillion_for_stable_power.csp