
OpeOluwani Akintayo
15 August 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The federal government plans to revive six hydro dams across the country, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said.
The minister made this known on at the 29th stakeholders’ meeting organised in Minna.
According to him, the initiative is to provide electricity to rural areas and to energise educational institutions and markets.
The minister said: “These are government-led initiatives based on the rural electrification plan approved by the president in 2016 to provide access to power for rural dwellers and vulnerable members of our society.’’
He added that government had proposed to use six small hydro dams that had been abandoned for decades for the project.
“There are currently 15 markets under contemplation with Ariaria, Sabon Gari and Sura markets in Aba, Kano and Lagos as flagships.
“The six hydro dams are to be concessioned to private operators on Build, Operate, and Transfer, BOT,’’ he said.
The minister further revealed that five industries have started benefiting from the Customer eligibility policy of the federal government by buying electricity directly from generating companies, GenCos, saying the policy has started yielding results.
The Customer Eligibility policy was declared by the minister in 2017 to improve electricity distribution and facilitate better power supply to consumers who consumed up to two megawatts and above.
The beneficiaries, he said, include Mainstream Energy Ltd and 26 others, who have also shown interest.
“From reports reaching me, five industrial customers are now benefitting from the policy and taking their power directly from a Genco, which incidentally is our host today, messers Mainstream Energy Ltd.
“We also have a list of 26 industrial customers who are seeking to benefit from the policy,’’ Fashola said.
According to him, directives have been issued to the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to work out and implement competition transition charges as provided by Law, to safeguard operators from any losses arising from the policy.