FG targets 5,000 megawatts by December 2012

The Federal Government has stated its resolve to attain 5,000 megawatts of electricity by December 2012.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Mrs Dere Awosika, disclosed this in Abuja at the seventh General Assembly of the West African Power Pool (WAPP).

She said the plan to attain 5,000 megawatts of electricity by December was government's deliberate drive towards achieving a sustainable power sector for a robust economic development.

Mrs Awosika assured that the projection was tenable since a national peak of 4,321 megawatts had already been achieved in August this year.

"The target is to attain 5,000 megawatts by December 2012. This is possible since we achieved a national peak of 4,321 megawatts on 31 August 2012," she said.

Awosika further stated that the Independent Power Project (IPP) presently contributes 50 per cent of electricity in the country, adding that the  project contributed substantialy to improved generation with the commissioning of Olorunsogo, Omotosho, Sapele and Alaoji gas thermal generating stations.

According to her, the Federal Government is also implementing renewable energy projects with one Megawatt Solar Plant and 10 Megawatts Wind Farm in Katsina State.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Secretary-General of WAPP, Mr Ahmadu Diallo, disclosed that the organisation had secured a loan of 323 million euros from the World Bank, the African Development Bank Group and the European Development Bank to connect Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and other West African nations.

Diallo further stated that the funding for the interconnection project for Bolgatanga (Ghana) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), estimated at about $111 million, was also secured from the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency.

The chairman of WAPP executive board, Dr Joseph Makoju, restated that WAPP had, over the years, put up well-tested and robust system for identifying and developing projects.