In a bid to enhance the distribution of electricity in Nigeria’s centre of excellence, Lagos, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has constructed a 300 megawatts (MW) renewable energy plant.
Fahad Obaid Al Taffaq, the ambassador of UAE to Nigeria made this announcement during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman in Abuja.
Al Taffaq told the minister that the energy plant was ready for use in Lagos and is expected to support power being supplied through the national grid. He said the plant was constructed by a member of the emirate royal family, Ahmed Al-maktum, adding that the plant has the capacity to expand to about 1,000 MW in a few months.
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The ambassador asked the Minister to help him secure a generation license and tariff from the Lagos State Government for the project to be operational, noting that the energy plant would serve as United Arab Emirates investments to the Nigerian power sector.
He assured the Minister that all agreements to supply gas to enable smooth running of the plant had been concluded with Shell. He also informed the Minister of UAE’s plans to invest in the power transmission and distribution across Nigeria.
The Minister of Power said the Federal Government would welcome genuine investors, willing to transform the power sector. He also assured Al Taffaq that the Ministry would continue to collaborate with the UAE in its areas of investments in Nigeria.
It is on record that following the privatization of Nigeria’s power sector, there have been many issues in the sector.
Recently, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) planned to withdraw the licenses of eight power distribution companies (DisCos) over breaches of some provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act.
The breaches bother on the failure of 8 DisCos to meet the minimum remittance threshold.
Samson Oyedeyi
