President Bola Tinubu has entered into an agreement with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to enhance Nigeria’s grid capacity and improve electricity supply. The agreement, focused on accelerating the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), was signed on the sidelines of the ongoing COP28 in Dubai by Kenny Anuwe, CEO of FGN Power Company, and Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy Managing Director for Africa.
The PPI project, initially initiated in 2019, aims to enhance grid stability and reliability by delivering an additional 2GW to the grid, increasing the operational capacity to about 11GW, and ultimately reaching a capacity of 25GW in three phases.
Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, expressed that the agreement involves the end-to-end modernization and expansion of Nigeria’s electric power transmission grid. He acknowledged that factors like the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the project’s progress since its inception in 2019, but Nigeria is now ready to proceed and deliver.
Siemens Energy has already supplied the necessary equipment for the project, and within 12 to 24 months, the government aims to expand the grid capacity from 6,000 to 8,000 megawatts, with a further goal of reaching 12,000MW in three years. Adelabu stated that the project would be financed by Nigeria’s export credit facilities provided by German banks.
Anuwe provided details of Siemens Energy’s equipment worth over €63 million, including mobile substations and transformers, delivered to Nigeria since the project commenced. The project will focus on identified load demand centres, economic and industrial hubs, and the execution of new substations and transmission lines to connect existing and new facilities.
