Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday said the
quest by the country to achieve energy security can no longer be left
for the Federal Government to address alone, just as he revealed plans
by the State to attain 24-hour power supply through generation of
3000megawatts of electricity by 2022.
Speaking at Lagos House in
Ikeja after receiving the report of the Embedded Power Technical
Committee constituted by the State Government with representatives from
the public and private sector, Governor Ambode said while the Federal
Government continues in its efforts to resolve the power crisis, the
sustainable solution going forward would be the pulling together of
commitment and resources of all stakeholders in the power value chain.
While explaining the rationale behind the embedded power initiative of
the State Government, Governor Ambode said the major bane of the power
situation in the country has always been with transmission, adding that
the initiative was designed to permanently resolve power crisis in the
State and by extension in the country.
He said: “The reason why
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 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 into what government sees as the
right step to take so that we can join hands together to say in the next
two to five years, we can actually power Lagos and then grow our GDP.”
Governor 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 3000MW, 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 Lagos 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.
Besides, Governor Ambode
said 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’s owned oil and gas Corporation – Ibile Oil and Gas.
While recalling the success of the Light Up Lagos Project with
installation of over 47,000 poles of street lights, and connection of
about 67 communities in the Ibeju Lekki axis to national grid after
about six years off grid under the rural electrification project,
Governor Ambode said another 32 communities in Badagry which have not
had access to electricity for over sixteen years would be connected to
the grid within the next 21 days.
Responding on behalf of
Distribution Companies (DISCOS), Chairman of Eko Distribution Company,
Mr. Charles Momoh commended Governor Ambode for the embedded power
initiative, saying it was the best thing that has happened to Lagos
State in recent times.
He also expressed the confidence of DISCOS in the ability of the Governor to see to the success of the initiative.
Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral
Resources, Mr. Wale Oluwo, said he was confident that the implementation
of the report holistically would address electricity problem in the
state.
