The Nigerian Government said it remains committed to the partnership with Siemens and the German Government to improve electricity generation in the country.
This was disclosed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja, after a meeting with officials of Siemens Energy AG at the State House.
The Siemens Power Project under the Presidential Power Initiative is expected to increase Nigeria’s electricity to 25,000 MW.
What Buhari said:
He noted that Nigeria remains dedicated to the partnership with Siemens and the German Government to improve electricity generation in Nigeria. He then urged them not to relent in order to ensure that the government’s commitment to Nigerians in delivering the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) is fulfilled.
President Buhari further noted that the outcome of the collaboration will deliver critical business enablers and opportunities to engage young enterprising Nigerians in various endeavours.
He praised the decision to train 200 Nigerian engineers on network development studies under the initiative, saying that this represents a very important upskilling and knowledge transfer process. The president added that he was eagerly looking forward to the 5,000 engineers coming home at the end of their training.
He also thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the German Government’s continued support for the PPI, saying:
- “A plan to deliver capacity improvements of 2,000 megawatts in the transmission-distribution interface is now firmly the focus of PPI Phase I.
- “In April 2022, the honourable minister of power briefed me on the outcome of his visit to Germany where he held meetings with Siemens executives. That visit was fruitful in emphasizing the need to expedite delivery of the pilot PPI project, elements of which have started arriving in the country.
- ””The Honourable Minister also mentioned that you, Dr Bruch, would pay a visit to Nigeria, and we are glad that you are with us today.
- “The PPI remains a priority project for our administration and Nigerians believe in the value that the Siemens’ brand can deliver. On our part, nothing is spared to ensure we improve the lives and livelihoods of our citizens.”
- “I have been reliably assured that 10 Power Transformers and 10 Mobile Substations would have been completely delivered and installed by May 2023. However, what I would like to see is that we attain completion of the entire transaction process by December 2022. This will entrench the mandate of the PPI in full committal terms.”
Note that Siemens was represented at the meeting by its president and Chief Executive Officer Dr Christian Bruch, the CEO of Siemens Africa, Nadia Haakansson, and the CEO of Siemens Nigeria, Mr Seun Suleiman.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported last year that the Federal Government stated that the Siemens Power Project under the Presidential Power Initiative will increase Nigeria’s electricity generation from the current 4,500 megawatts (MW) to 25,000 MW.
The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) which began in 2021, was in three phases and was estimated to be completed in 2025.
Nairametrics reported earlier last year that the Nigerian government and Siemens AG signed a contract for the pre-engineering phase of the Presidential Power Initiative.
The pre-engineering phase contract includes engineering design, finalizing project specifications, commissioning works for transmission, distribution systems and others.
The Presidential Power Initiative which used to be known as the Nigeria Electrification Roadmap (NER) will come in 3 phases:
- The target of 7,000MW operational grid capacity
- 11,000MW
- 25,000MW.