TAYO ELEGBEDE
The ongoing Siemens power project will not end after the Buhari Administration, the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, has disclosed.
Mamman said the Federal Government has institutionalised the Siemens power agreement to guarantee its implementation even after the current administration.
“To ensure that the project does not stop beyond the current presidential dispensation, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved an institutionalised framework that consists of a government-sponsored special purpose vehicle capitalised by the Federal Ministry of Finance,” the Minister said in an interview.
He explained that the bilateral power deal is essential for the sector in the early phases one and two towards improving the grid’s operational capacity and opening up the corridors for evacuation that will reduced the cost burden on the sector.
“Investors will be more confident to participate in the sector as the grid achieve more functional operational capacity which will reduce financing cost, and ultimately lead to possible cheaper projects in the future resulting to enhanced value to Nigerians.
“The five-year timeline is feasible and Siemens was chosen because they are the best in the business and have already done similar initiatives in Egypt and Iraq, which means we won’t have a problem in the implementation process of the project,” Mamman said.
He noted that phase one of the project has commenced addressing quick wins such as increasing end to end operation capacity to seven gigawatts.
He added that phase two targets the expansion of the transmission and distribution system to enable evacuation of up to 11 gigawatts to users.
While commending President Buhari for the efforts to holistically revamp the electricity situation in the country, the Minister restated commitment to partners of the projects especially Siemens group.
“Implementation of the agreement and the much-awaited time to fix the power sector has arrived with the Siemens project , the future now look bright,” he added.
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