Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has announced plans by his administration to achieve 24-hour power supply by generating 3,000megawatts of electricity by 2022, saying the quest by the country to realize energy security can no longer be left to the Federal Government to address alone.
Speaking after receiving a report from the Embedded Power Technical Committee at the Lagos House, Ikeja, recently, Ambode said while the Federal Government continues in its efforts to resolve the power crisis, the sustainable solution to moving forward would be the pulling together of commitment and resources of all stakeholders in the power value chain.
Explaining the rationale behind the embedded power initiative of the state government, Ambode listed transmission as the major problem of the power situation in the country, adding that the initiative was designed to permanently resolve the power crisis in the State and by extension in the country.
He said: “The reason we embarked on this initiative is that we believe strongly that if the power problem is solved in Lagos, it is technically solved in the whole of the country, and so because Lagos has more or less tested a solution that works, we can scale this up and also address it on a national scale.
“The problem of power in Nigeria is the problem of transmission and that is the truth. Yes, we have generating companies and we have distributing companies and they say power is in the hands of the private sector but we know technically that that is not totally true.
“We also know that transmission is hundred per cent owned by government but we have tested here in Lagos and we have been able to provide 48 kilowatts of power without transmitting it which means that we generate and then distribute.
“So, if that works for 48 kilowatts, can’t we put Lagos into clusters and actually use embedded power initiative to drive the business of Lagos? That is what this initiative is all about and I want to thank all the stakeholders for submitting their business template on what government sees as the right step to take so that we can join hands and say in the next two to five years, we can actually power Lagos and then grow our GDP.”
Ambode said the target of the state government is to generate up to 3,000MW of power through accelerated deployment of various embedded power plants in strategic locations in the State within three to five years.
Out of the 3,000MW, the governor said 350MW would be delivered by Q1 2018, additional 850MW by Q4 2018, and the balance of 1,800MW not later Q3 2022, while the state government will support the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to be signed between the Distribution Companies and the embedded power providers, to enhance bankability of the projects.
He said the embedded power will be distributed off-grid within the State through the network of Eko and Ikeja Distribution Companies, while the State Government will support the Distribution Companies in upgrading their distribution infrastructure and installation of smart prepaid meters in the areas where embedded power is deployed.
Other areas of collaboration, according to the Governor, would include support for collection, appropriate legislation and enforcement of power theft laws.
Ambode added that his administration will collaborate with operators of oil blocks in the Lagos area to accelerate the extraction of gas feedstocks for power generation, adding that alternative sources of fuel would be explored to sustain uninterrupted power supply in the medium to long term, including partnerships on investments in gas pipeline infrastructure through the State-owned oil and gas Corporation –Ibile Oil and Gas.
Responding on behalf of Distribution Companies (DISCOS), Chairman of Eko Distribution Company, Mr. Charles Momoh commended the governor for the embedded power initiative, saying that Lagos would be better for it.
He also expressed the confidence of DISCOS in the ability of the governor to see to the success of the initiative.
On his part, the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Wale Oluwo, expressed confidence that the thorough implementation of the report would address electricity problem in the state.
