20 January 2014, London — Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Dr Sam Amadi, has said generator sellers will soon be put out of business in Nigeria saying the necessary structures that would ensure sustainable electricity in the country have been put in place.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Trust in London at the weekend, Amadi said many of the cartel members were already applying for licenses for power plants “because they know ultimately, there will be power in Nigeria”.
“Our job is to keep the cartel out of business by ensuring that there is power in the country,” he said, and pledged that by 2017, Nigerians in major cities would be guaranteed sustainable supply of electricity for 14 to 16 hours daily.
The NERC boss who attributed the “tremendous improvement” in the power sector to the sustainable energy reform which commenced in 2001, said the sector “has turned a critical corner” towards achieving the target of 10,000 Megawatts of electricity in the country by the first quarter of next year.
He said the next few months would be a “watershed” in capacity, generation and transmission of electricity in Nigeria, adding that the consistency in the execution of the power reform had led to huge foreign and local investments in the energy sector.
He further said that the issue of gas content which had hindered the provision of electricity in the country was being addressed, emphasizing that the gas crises and constraints that held the success of the sector back, such as vandalism and industrial consumption, were being overcome.
Dr Amadi stated that many Independent Power Producers (IPP) were already building power plants while 10 power plants would be sold to independent markers by the end of this quarter. He assured that the issue of electricity pricing and charges would be addressed so that consumers pay rates commensurate with their economic situations.
– Daily Trust
