13 September 2011, Sweetcrude, Lagos- Lagos State has developed a comprehensive plan aimed at fully exploiting the the energy potentials inherent in the state, to ensure improved power supply to residents.
The state is also finalising plans toward stepping up search for oil and gas in its territory.
Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola made this known at the opening ceremony of the five-day zonal workshop on training professionals for states on energy demand and supply projections in Nigeria, organized by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and the National Centre for Energy Efficiency and Conservation, in Lagos.
He said the development plan, aimed at providing a reliable alternative to the current erratic electricity supply from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), would equally stimulate social and economic growth of the nation.
Maintaining that Lagos State serves as the commercial hub of the nation with a population of over 15 million people, the governor said his administration has considered it paramount to create a Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to aggressively develop the energy sector in the area of power, oil, gas and mineral resources.
Fashola, who was represented by the pioneer Commissioner for Energy and Minerals Resources, Taofiq Ajibade Tijani, said the state is presently putting strategies in place to ensure that the holistic master plan serves the energy requirement of the state.
He said as part of the measures, the state government has commenced energy audit that would provide the information needed for the power master plan, adding that plans are in the pipeline to launch an online energy usage calculator and energy calculator software, including helpline that would help Lagosians calculate their energy use.
On the petroleum sector, he said the state would, through the new Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, conduct an oil and gas resource study and also engage all the relevant Federal Government ministries and agencies such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, with a view to gaining an understanding of the state hydrocarbon potentials.
According to him, these collaborations would aid the state’s efforts to source for oil and gas within Lagos territories, both onshore and offshore to enable a balanced development of the state’s energy mix.
