The Federal Government has said the Siemens AG power project which plans to grow Nigeria’s power delivery to 25,000 megawatts will be revived in the first quarter of 2021.
The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, said on Thursday that the German firm, Siemens AG, would begin operations in Nigeria soon and that activities to get the project going would commence in earnest.
Under the Presidential Power Initiative, Siemens is supporting Nigeria to raise electricity capacity to 25,000MW.
But the project has been dragging since an agreement between the German firm and the Federal Government was reached on August 31, 2018 in Abuja.
Nigeria and Germany had agreed to cooperate with the aim of resolving the challenges in the nation’s power sector and expanding capacity for future power needs.
Aliyu told journalists at a workshop organised by Power Correspondent Association of Nigeria that efforts were ongoing to get the project up and running.
Nigeria’s power generation currently hovers around 4,500MW and the country’s targets to grow this to 25,000MW through the Siemens deal.
Aliyu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, said, “The Presidential Power Initiative which began in 2021 is in three phases and is estimated to be completed in 2025.
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“The phases cover the upgrading and expanding of the transmission networks and distribution companies networks, improvement of access to affordable, efficient and reliable electricity, and providing support of industrial and economic growth in the country.
“This first phase which began in 2021 will go on for a period of 10 months with the end goal of pushing to 7,000MW. So far, there has been no hitch as the team is currently on the pre-engineering phase.
“The second phase will raise the availability to 11,000MW and the third phase will raise the availability to 25,000MW.”
Aliyu stated that given Siemens AG’s accomplishment of a similar plan in Egypt and also its reputation as an international giant in the power sector related engagements, it was strongly believed that the Nigeria Electricity Roadmap was possible and achievable.
