NERC targets 6,000MW

In from Ali Smart …
Dr. Sam Amadi, Chairman, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has hinted of plans to increase power generation to over 6,000 Mega Watts.
Specifically, he said the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is presently working out a template for generating over 6,000Mega Watts (MW) by the end of the year.
Amadi spoke with reporters Tuesday at a two day workshop organised by the commission to present a template for effective project management to the electricity industry performance management office.
Justifying the need for the parley, he said: “This meeting is for us to meet with our stakeholders to show them the template we have designed with consultants to enable them deliver on time and effectively. We want to increase our capacity. There is a possibility of ending this year with over 6000MW or close to that.”
While assessing the performance in the power sector overtime, Amadi regretted that the problem of corruption and poor budgeting has been the major drawback in the sector.
Going down memory lane, the NERC boss recalled that prior to 2010, the sector suffered the problem of modeling, but from 2010 to date it has faced management problems.
He said that the problem is mostly caused by corruption and inefficient budget circle have made it difficult for effective delivery of projects within a target time frame in the sector.
The chairman further lamented that the electricity market would have been generating about 9000MW if all the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) were completed and the capacities of existing electricity generation companies recovered.

Read also: NERC insists on local content policy

Expatiating, he said: “Today the real problem of this sector is performance management. We have moved from modeling we have set a fairly good enough model that will allow us to create sustainable electricity. The problem is poor project management, it includes corruption which is the beginning because if you mis-procurement, if you award contracts to those who cannot deliver there is no magic. So it is a NERC problem, it is a problem of delivery.
“If we had delivered all the NIPP projects, recovered all the capacity of existing electricity generation companies, we would have been doing over 8000MW or 9000MW today. So the problem of the electricity sector is, we need to develop the skills, project and deliver. Some of them are budget circle, think about the Transmission Company of Nigeria.”
On fixed charge, Amadi clarified that “fixed charge has not been removed. A regulator does not remove something by executive fiat. It has to go through a process.”

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now