Power supply
The Nation 20/07/2010 07:50:00
VICE-President Namadi Sambo has in recent time been raising expectations that the nation will soon begin to see flickers of light in the dark tunnel of despair that has been the troubled power sector.
Only last week, he announced the imminent revival of the stalled Mambilla Hydro Power project in Gembu, Taraba State, when he directed the consultants to produce a revised programme, including the feasibility of the dams within two weeks.
Apparently buoyed by the interest of international finance institutions, the Federal Government is pressing for the revival of the project, initiated 28 years ago, and which, on delivery, is expected to add 2,600MW electricity generation to the grid.
While the Africa Development Bank (ADB) is pledging $3 billion in credit package, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is putting forward $2 billion to boost power generation in the country.
Such windows of finance, even if they represent tiny droplets in the ocean of the nation’s needs, certainly count for something. They reflect the increasing willingness of international credit institutions to help Nigeria out of her problems, an opportunity too good to miss, provided the funds would be properly utilised.
Undeniably, under-investment in the sector is at the heart of the current problems in which the nation could barely boast of 4,000MW in power generation. To this is added the problem of poor planning and the well known factor of corruption. All of these explain why expenditure in the last decade has not translated into value in terms of improvements in the power situation – despite the record spend of an estimated $16 billion.
The potential of the Mambilla project is hardly the issue here; we are for the diversification of the sources of energy –be it solar, wind, coal, thermal or even nuclear energy, to guarantee the nation’s sufficiency in power supply. Indeed, we believe that several opportunities currently exist, waiting to be harnessed in the quest to supply Nigerians with electricity.
The issue with such ambitious projects is whether the benefits to be derived actually measure up when weighed against the costs that would be sunk. At the present, there are no indications as to how much it would cost to bring the project into fruition, aside government’s admission that there are technical, logistical and even legal challenges to be tackled along the way.
Even if we rest on government’s assurance that the project will deliver on its promise, what about questions of costs?
Also, we cannot ignore the fact that there are too many loose ends in the power sector that need tying up. Whether in generation, transmission or even distribution, there are still, countless problems in the chain that need to be addressed urgently. The status of the much touted National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), for instance, remains largely unknown; the same holds true of the gas supply situation so critical to fire the plants.
Important as putting new investments are, the requirement to create synergies among parts to optimise service delivery must be seen as equally compelling. One would have expected that a clear roadmap would have been put in place by now to enable the critical stakeholders key into the government’s reform agenda. Surely, we can no longer afford to grope in the dark.
Just as government has admitted, much work still needs to be done to make the project a reality. Because international finance is involved, the government cannot afford to bungle the project as it did with similar well conceived projects in the past. It should not allow it to become another white elephant project, a monument to service the infrastructure of corruption. Nigerians of course deserve to know the details about the proposed Mambilla hydro project.
The Nation 20/07/2010 07:50:00
VICE-President Namadi Sambo has in recent time been raising expectations that the nation will soon begin to see flickers of light in the dark tunnel of despair that has been the troubled power sector.
Only last week, he announced the imminent revival of the stalled Mambilla Hydro Power project in Gembu, Taraba State, when he directed the consultants to produce a revised programme, including the feasibility of the dams within two weeks.
Apparently buoyed by the interest of international finance institutions, the Federal Government is pressing for the revival of the project, initiated 28 years ago, and which, on delivery, is expected to add 2,600MW electricity generation to the grid.
While the Africa Development Bank (ADB) is pledging $3 billion in credit package, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is putting forward $2 billion to boost power generation in the country.
Such windows of finance, even if they represent tiny droplets in the ocean of the nation’s needs, certainly count for something. They reflect the increasing willingness of international credit institutions to help Nigeria out of her problems, an opportunity too good to miss, provided the funds would be properly utilised.
Undeniably, under-investment in the sector is at the heart of the current problems in which the nation could barely boast of 4,000MW in power generation. To this is added the problem of poor planning and the well known factor of corruption. All of these explain why expenditure in the last decade has not translated into value in terms of improvements in the power situation – despite the record spend of an estimated $16 billion.
The potential of the Mambilla project is hardly the issue here; we are for the diversification of the sources of energy –be it solar, wind, coal, thermal or even nuclear energy, to guarantee the nation’s sufficiency in power supply. Indeed, we believe that several opportunities currently exist, waiting to be harnessed in the quest to supply Nigerians with electricity.
The issue with such ambitious projects is whether the benefits to be derived actually measure up when weighed against the costs that would be sunk. At the present, there are no indications as to how much it would cost to bring the project into fruition, aside government’s admission that there are technical, logistical and even legal challenges to be tackled along the way.
Even if we rest on government’s assurance that the project will deliver on its promise, what about questions of costs?
Also, we cannot ignore the fact that there are too many loose ends in the power sector that need tying up. Whether in generation, transmission or even distribution, there are still, countless problems in the chain that need to be addressed urgently. The status of the much touted National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), for instance, remains largely unknown; the same holds true of the gas supply situation so critical to fire the plants.
Important as putting new investments are, the requirement to create synergies among parts to optimise service delivery must be seen as equally compelling. One would have expected that a clear roadmap would have been put in place by now to enable the critical stakeholders key into the government’s reform agenda. Surely, we can no longer afford to grope in the dark.
Just as government has admitted, much work still needs to be done to make the project a reality. Because international finance is involved, the government cannot afford to bungle the project as it did with similar well conceived projects in the past. It should not allow it to become another white elephant project, a monument to service the infrastructure of corruption. Nigerians of course deserve to know the details about the proposed Mambilla hydro project.
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