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AfDB to boost Nigeria’s power sector reforms with $1bn loan
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has resolved to support Nigeria’s power sector with a $1 billion Policy-Based Operation (PBO) fund to boost electricity.
The bank is also financing a study for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to explore the deployment of battery energy storage systems to enhance grid stability and facilitate greater uptake of renewable energy generation.
The AfDB Vice-President, Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth Complex, Kelvin Kariuki, disclosed this during the Eight Africa Energy MarketPlace (AEMP) Forum held in Abuja, recently.
He said: “We will be shortly seeking board approval for a $1 billion policy-based operation (PBO) with a significant energy component.
“This is aimed at supporting the ongoing power sector reforms triggered by the new Electricity Act.
“The timing of the AEMP and the proposed policy-based lending focused on the energy sector is, therefore, not coincidental.”
READ ALSO: NLC blames IMF, World Bank for Nigeria’s power sector crisis
Kariuki said AfDB would fund the policy recommendations to actualise the expected outcomes from the NIEP-SIP.
He said effective policies attract long-term investments and that an enabling environment maximises the value of existing investments such as the $256.2 million Nigeria transmission expansion project (NTEP).
The project, according to him, will include the construction of 500 kilometres (KM) of transmission lines and four substations with a capacity of over 1000 megavolt-amperes (MVA).
“And the $200 million Nigeria electrification project, which will build 150 mini-grids.
“Moreover, we are financing a study for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to explore the deployment of battery energy storage systems to enhance grid stability and facilitate greater uptake of renewable energy generation.
“Nigeria is part of our flagship $20 billion Desert to Power Initiative, which aims to generate 10,000 megawatts (MW) of solar power across 11 countries in the Sahel region to provide power to 250 million Africans,” the AfDB official added.
By: Babajide Okeowo
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