The Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri, has said the federal government is committed to its renewable energy policy target of additional generations to the national grid.
Shehuri, who spoke at the 6thSession of the Nigerian-German Bi-National Commission, hosted by his ministry in Abuja, recently, also said that the FG is committed to ensuring that both transmission and distribution network capacities progressed simultaneously.
He said: “The Nigerian Government is improving the Nigerian Power Sector in terms of generation capacities, grid expansion at both the transmission and distribution levels”. President Buhari’s administration inherited a generation capacity of about 4,000MW which has now gone well beyond 7,500MW, with a transmission capacity of 8,000MW’’.
Noting that power is a critical element in the development of any nation, Shehuri said that if the challenges of the sector was successfully addressed, other socio-economic issues would be solved and the high rate of unemployment among the youth would drastically reduce.
The minister further stated that the federal government was ready to collaborate with Germany on the power sector, adding that the present administration is passionate about addressing the country’s infrastructural deficit.
He advocated for the diversification of Nigeria’s energy sources from fossil fuel to other energy mix such as hydro, solar, biomass, coal and wind, calling for mini-grid solutions that would be built, within months.
On his part, the State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, Walter Lindner, who also doubled as Head of the Delegation, said “if energy is not working well, you have stability problems in the country.
He continued: “The essence of the bilateral cooperation is what we can do to have 100% energy. Your country is a very rich country but you have to use your resources wisely. And that is why we are here, to help you”.
Lindner commended Nigeria’s recent programmes in the power sector such as the Power Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP), the Agenda 30-30-30 and the Action Plan for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.
