By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, Power Company says the Nigeria-Siemens Presidential Power Initiative, PPI, project for Phase 1 is underway and has recorded notable successes.
The pilot project is a quick-win intervention strategy, which will unlock immediate constraints in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) through deployment of 10 power transformers and 10 mobile substations across the country.
Managing Director of the company, Mr Kenny Anuwe, said the firm had received delivery of about 80 per cent of equipment for the pilot project which are being deployed to critical sites across the country to improve power transmission capacity.
Some of the sites according to him include Apo, Ajah, Okene, Nike Lake, Kwanar Dangora, Maryland, Omouaran, Ojo, Amukpe, Ihovbor, Potiskum and Birnin Kebbi.
Anuwe said the implementation of PPI, being coordinated by FGN Power Company, is progressing and remains a vital programme for Nigeria’s power sector.
He said: “The Nigeria-Siemens PPI initiative will be delivered in three phases, with Phase 1 focusing on “quick win” measures to increase end-to-end operational capacity to 7,000MW from the current capacity of about 5,000MW. Phase 2 targets expanding the capacity of transmission and distribution systems to enable evacuation of up to 11,000 MW of electricity to consumers, while Phase 3 targets expanding the power grid to 25,000MW capacity, through further expansion of generation, transmission, and distribution systems.”
He also said the Federal Government of Nigeria, Siemens A.G and Siemens Energy have remained unswerving in their commitment to the project.
He added: “The successful implementation of projects under Phase 1 will culminate in the delivery of an additional 2,000MW, two million new connections to the national grid, training of over 5,000 engineers to operate the system network, and improved electricity access to millions of Nigerians.”
Despite the notable successes recorded in this project, the project was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which occasioned a backlog in Siemens’ production and limited the availability of manufacturing slots.
However, a visit by Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu, the management of FGN Power Company, and other key officials to Germany in April 2022, where they met with the leadership of Siemens Energy, helped in mitigating the manufacturing challenges and fast-tracking delivery and execution of the project.