NANFeatures/Vol.11/No.46/2017 (March 15)
Boosting power generation via Japanese government’s intervention
A News Analysis by Okon Okon, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
In 2016, the Japanese government in partnership with the Federal Government, made a donation of solar power equipment worth 9.7 million dollars — more than N2.8 billion– to the Federal Government to boost electricity in the country.
Also, in February 2017, Japanese government, through its agency — Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) — made similar donation worth the same amount to Nigeria.
Perceptive observers note that the issue of unstable power supply in Nigeria will improve with the assistance from the Japanese government.
According to them, while adequate power supply is cardinal to any nation’s development, electricity generation, transmission and distributions are capital-intensive projects which the Japanese government has been providing.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola, observed that the solar energy provided through the partnership had increased power generation with the addition of 1.2 megawatts of the national grid.
At the inauguration and handing over ceremony of the solar power equipment in Abuja recently, Fashola said the solar plant was the first solar plant tied to the national electricity grid.
He said the solar energy had the potential to power the Lower Usuma Dam Water Treatment Plant, near Bwari, Abuja and it could produce “electricity of about 400 kilowatts when the sun is high’’.
Fashola further explained that the initiative was in fulfilment of government’s plan to increase electricity through incremental power supply to steady and uninterrupted electricity in the county.
“As we said in our power sector road map for electricity development that we are going to start from incremental power because there is not enough power.
“We will go from incremental power to steady power and we will go from steady power to uninterrupted power.
“This is the first step to incremental power, again we have kept our words, we have added more power here,’’ he said.
Fashola also said the completion of the project was the confirmation of government’s commitment to improved energy supply by ensuring less dependence on gas for electricity generation.
Appreciating the project, the Minister of FCT, Alhaji Musa Bello, thanked the Japanese government for supporting the project technically and financially.
He said that the FCT had also demonstrated its commitment to the project by providing the required counterpart funding.
Bello called on the staff of the FCT Water Board to take proper ownership of the project by ensuring its security, adding that the FCT Administration would protect the installations and ensure its sustainability.
The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Sadanobu Kusaoke, represented at the inauguration by Mr Masaya Otsuka, Deputy Head of Mission, commended efforts of the partners who worked for the successful completion of the project.
He said Nigeria’s power sector had been one of the top priorities of Japan’s development cooperation with Nigeria.
“As early as in the 1970s, Japan supported the funding of similar project to increase the capacity of Kainji Hydro Power station in Niger.
“This is our 10th project in Nigeria’s power sector since then and this will not be our last,’’ he said.
Kusaoke observed that stable power supply was crucial to the efforts of any country to promote industrialisation and improve the living standards of its citizens.
He expressed the hope that the solar power project would fit into Nigeria’s holistic approach in diversifying its economy.
“The power generation from this project will reduce the load demand on the national grid for the operations of the Usuma Dam Water Treatment Plant.
“An in-house power supply will make the plant’s operation more stable and resilient, while it will financially reduce the electricity bill for the FCT Water Board,’’ he observed.
In the same vein, Mr Hirotaka Nakamura, JICA representative, explained that the equipment presented after successful tests and certification of the first phase of the project was part of Japanese government’s continued support to Nigerian government.
“Following the successful tests and certification of the installed solar system, we are here to inaugurate the second phase and handover of the project aimed at introducing clean energy via solar electricity generation.
“Having inaugurated the first phase with the generation capacity of 975 kilowatts last year, we have now a total of 1.2 megawatts clean energy we can produce from this treatment plant,’’ he said.
Mr Aminu Tanimu, Manager, Technical Services, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, described the solar power project as a veritable means of solving the problem of power outage in the FCT.
“We are glad to witness this occasion and this project is one of the solutions to the power challenges facing the FCT.
“That means power allocation problems will reduce, as power generation increases through from the Japanese solar project.
“We have pledged to work hand-in-hand with the engineering and water departments of Federal Capital Development Authority to achieve the objectives of the project,’’ he said.
Similarly, Alhaji Hudu Bello, Director, FCT Water Board, thanked the Japanese government for redeeming its pledge to complete the second phase of the solar energy project.
“As the direct beneficiary of this laudable project, we at FCT Water Board remain grateful to the Japanese government and the FCT minister for the resources made available for this project,’’ he said.
According to Bello, the project will improve power supply to the water station and residents in its environs.
“This project will reduce the cost of generating electricity for the water treatment plant, while contributing power to the national grid to improve electricity supply in the FCT,’’ he observed.
Observers, nonetheless, note that the country’s socio-economic and technological developments of the country have been affected by insufficient power supply.
According to them, energy deficits have been managed through deliberate load shedding, intermittent and extensive periods of power outages in some parts of the country.
With the Japanese government’s intervention, they express the hope that Nigeria’s electricity will get a boost that can spur it to becoming one of the twenty industrialised countries by 2020.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)