By Habibat Aliu
The Federal Government has restated its commitment to increase the wheeling capacity of the electricity grid to 25,000 by 2025.
Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba said this while flagging off a transmission project for the improvement of electricity supply at Ididep, Ibiono Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.
In a release made available to journalists, Jedy-Agba said the project is the construction of a 2 x 30/40MVA, 123/33kv Substation with six feeders which is projected to be completed in 18 months.
In 2013, the Federal Government took a bold step of privatising the power sector. The change in ownership was against the backdrop of the despondent nature of the sector, which affected standards of living and crippled economic growth.
Although Nigeria has about 13,000MW generation capacity, bottlenecks, especially on transmission networks have hindered dispatch to homes and industries as less than 5,000MW is transmitted and distributed.
Jeddy-Agba stated that the new projects were to strengthen the national grid, improve service delivery and increase the capacity to supply power.
According to him, upon project completion, it will strengthen the grid and increase its wheeling capacity to 25,000 MW by 2025.
The Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Emmanuel Udom, represented by the Hon. Commissioner of Power and Petroleum, Dr. James John Etim, expressed satisfaction with the project.
Earlier, Senator Ita Enang, and the paramount chief of Ididep Ibiono, (Dr.) Ime Udo Usoro, during their remarks, appreciated, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Ministers and Management of the Ministry of Power, the community heads, and the people of Akwa Ibom State for their cooperation.
He stated that he is interested in projects that influence the lives of people and promised to work with the State Government to ensure the successful completion of the project.
