ZHUL-QI’DA 7, 1429 A.H.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4 2008
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PHCN assures Nigerians of regular power supply
Nigerians will begin to enjoy 24-hour uninterrupted power supply as from the end of next year, Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice-Chairman of PHCN, Engr Bello Suleman, has said.
Suleman gave the assurance at the 2008 Management Retreat for PHCN tagged: ``Transforming to Deliver Presidential Targets'' held in Jos.
``By the time we reach and sustain 4,000 megawatts by the end of this year, and try to reinforce distribution and transmission, we are on our way to ensuring regular power supply,'' Suleman said.
``The idea is to get to 6,000 megawatts by the end of next year, and we believe that if we can get to that level and maintain it, Nigerians should be on 24-hour service.''
The Chief Executive said the Presidential Committee on Power had come up with a long-term programme to get Nigeria out of the current power problems.
According to him, the short-term programme, which is from now to the end of 2009, is aimed at increasing the country's power generation from the current 3,000 megawatts to 6,000 megawatts.
He said the short-term programme involved the rehabilitation of some existing plants as well as the connection of other three new plants to the transmission lines.
The executive vice-chairman said some of the generating plants had been revamped and that PHCN was now capable of generating more than 4, 000 megawatts.
Suleman said the rehabilitation of the transmission and distribution was taking longer time as some of the materials had to be imported.
According to him, as soon as PHCN receives the big transformers it had ordered, the system will be strong enough before the end of next year to be able to distribute 6, 000 megawatts.
He said, however, that, Nigeria would need 10, 000 megawatts to ensure uninterrupted power for domestic and industrial needs when every Nigerian would have been connected.
He said that about 40 per cent of the population was currently connected.
The PHCN chief executive, who expressed regrets that the Nigerian Integrated Power Projects had been discontinued in some states because funds had not been released, added that only 1, 200 megawatts would be got from the projects.
Suleman, therefore, appealed for the release of funds by the various state governments to ensure competion of the projects by the end of 2009.
