The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the government has completed the pilot phase of the Presidential Power Initiatives (PPI) also known as the Siemens contracts to improve electricity in Nigeria.
Adelabu made this disclosure on Friday while responding to journalists during a question and answer session at a ministerial press briefing organized by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
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The minister explained that in 2018, the Nigerian government signed a memorandum of understanding with the German government for the Siemens contracts.
He explained that the German government agreed to lend Nigeria $2.3 billion and employ Siemens to transform the country’s transmission and distribution sector.
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The Minister of Power said due to COVID-19, significant progress is yet to be made in implementing the projects.
According to him, the project was supposed to proceed in two phases, but the pilot phase only progressed significantly once a new government emerged.
The Power Minister disclosed that in November 2023, during the visit of the German Chancellor to Nigeria, one of the issues discussed was the need to continue with the project.
He disclosed that the Federal Government has also installed three out of ten mobile substations, with seven more to be done.
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The Minister stated that at that point, Nigerians will begin to see the impact of this project.
“So, we are fully convinced that with the success recorded as the pilot phase of this project, we are moving forward unperturbed on the remaining phases of these projects,” he added.
The phases include transforming Nigeria’s transmission segment or network by expanding the transmission capacity and strengthening the transmission to avoid the current fragility that leads to persistent grid collapse.
“It is also going to involve the installation of new transmission power lines, the reconducting of some lines, and the conduct of some existing power lines, totaling almost 14,000 kilometers as the transmission segments,” Adelabu said.
Adelabu said that the same thing applies to the distribution segments, whereby the country’s existing injection substations will be enhanced in the distribution companies (DISCOS).
According to him, there will be replacements and upgrades of 33KV and 11KV transformers, numbering about 6000 transformers.
He added that the Federal Government will also reconduct and install new lines, totaling almost 22,000 kilometers of lines.
“So, I believe that once we are done with this first phase of the presidential power initiatives, called Siemens projects, Nigerians will start seeing improvements in the strength of the national grid and the efficiency and effectiveness of the distribution companies,” Adelabu said.
