Vice President Kashim Shettima has launched the Light Up South East Initiative to accelerate power supply in industrial clusters in the region.
The event was held at the old government lodge, Enugu, as part of the ongoing efforts to improve energy supply to industrial clusters across the southeast and the country at large.
The project, which is in collaboration between the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) and its partners, featured key stakeholders in the nation’s power sector.
A key highlight of the Vice President’s engagement in Enugu was the Southeast Business Roundtable, featuring top government officials and business leaders deliberating on delivering reliable and sustainable power to industrial and residential areas in the region.
The Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah said “the Light-Up Nigeria Project signaled a new dawn for power and industrialisation of the South East region, the initiative aligns with my administration’s disruptive approach to governance underpinned by thinking outside the box.”
Mbah Commended the Nigerian government and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) for coming up with the project to ramp up power supply to industrial clusters in the South East.
He enjoined industrialists of the region to fully key into it and take advantage of the initiative to remove any bottlenecks they face regarding power availability.
The Governor said; “the Light up Nigeria Project Today is, in my view, a new dawn for power in the South East and one of the most innovative initiatives in the power sector. This project is of critical importance since it deals with the power sector, which I believe is pivotal to economic growth. Indeed, if we fix power, a lot of other sectors would fall into place.
“This project ensures efficient dispatch of power to the largest consumers via bilateral sales agreements, which overides the existing bulk purchase arrangements through NBET, leveraging on a willing buyer, willing seller structure.
“The Programme will certainly bring improved access to affordable power to the Southeast. This will, in turn, result in reduced power costs for the productive sector and enable them to improve enganced productivity and generate jobs. This is critical in this day, where the country is pushing to boost production and drive-up exports to ultimately shore up our domestic currency.”
He pledged his government’s continued support to industrialists and other private investors across the state to complement the undeniable boost that the Light-up Nigeria Project would bring.
Also in an address, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Chiedu Ugbo said that the initiatives demonstrate the commitment and determination of President Tinubu’s administration, working through NDPHC, to provide reliable and sustainable solutions to the electricity challenge in the country, starting with reliable and affordable supply to industries.
He said; “The first event in this series took place on October 12, 2023, in Agbara, Ogun State,South-West Nigeria, where His Excellency engaged with the business community and committed to providing the required electricity to power businesses in industrial areas across the country through NDPHC.”
“Since then, significant progress has been made on the Agbara Project including identifying and signing on key industrial customers, conducting engineering surveys, negotiating transaction agreements, and procuring OEM/EPC providers for the required transmission and distribution projects. Additionally, NDPHC has worked closely with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and FGN Power Company to conduct engineering surveys, identify sites, and acquire a mobile transmission substation for the project TCN has approved the connection of the new substation to the national grid, and efforts are underway to deploy this fast-track transmission substation.
“Today’s event builds on the commitment made by His Excellency at Agbara and will be replicated in other geopolitical zones across the country,” Ugbo said.
One major challenge Ugbo highlighted was the lack of sufficient transmission and distribution infrastructure to transport power from the plants.
He said; “To underscore this point, just last Friday, we received the Honourable Minister of Power at our 500MW Benin (Ihovbor) Power Plant. This power plant shares the transmission facilities with Azura-Edo Power plant next door with over 460 MW. The two plants together can generate over 900MW.”
“The Honourable Minister witnessed first-hand the level of underutilisation of the NDPHC generation plant as a result of the transmission constraint. However, Transmission Company of Nigeria is now working assiduously towards resolving that constraint in that power plant. ”
“These challenges of lack of sufficient transmission and distribution infrastructure to transport electricity from the plants and the sector market liquidity crisis have resulted in gross underutilisation of installed generation assets with unserved potential grid electricity consumers, particularly industries, resorting to expensive and often inefficient self generation,” he added.
Dignitaries that graced the occasion include; former Senate President, Sen. Anyim Pius, Sen. Osita Ngwu, all the Governors of the Southeast, Adebayo Adelabu (Power Minister), Sen. Rochas Okorocha, Uche Ekwumife, Sen. Osita Izunaso, Sir Emeka Offor amongst others.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
