Ambode seeks NERC’s approval for power generation

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Friday led a delegation from the state to the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Abuja, to get approval for generation of 3,000Megawatt of electricity in the state.
The governor said the problem of power generation can no longer be left to the Federal Government alone.
He also noted that the aspiration to create a secure and prosperous nation that is globally competitive would be difficult to achieve without stable power supply.
He said: “While the Federal Government continues in its efforts to resolve the power crisis, it has become clear that the problems in the energy sector can no longer be left to the federal government alone to solve.

“Upon my assumption of office, I made power generation one of my cardinal programmes in Lagos State. Within the first few months in office, our government initiated the Light-Up Lagos Programme as a platform to drive sustainable intervention in street lighting, rural electrification and embedded power.
“Embedded power was designed as our flagship programme for direct intervention in the power value chain towards achieving a 24-hour power for Lagos.
“Lagos State has always demonstrated its capacity and willingness to play a leading role in resolving the power sector challenges in the state, subject to the limit of the federal authority allowed regulations.
“Having succeeded in powering government facilities, the next level of intervention for our government is to collaborate with other stakeholders in the power sector to design and implement a roadmap for uninterrupted power supply to homes and businesses in Lagos State.”
According to him, the draft of the Lagos State Embedded Power Bill was finalised in May 2017 and submitted to the NERC for clearance before same can be forwarded to the State House of Assembly.
The governor added: “The stakeholders’ meeting holding today (Friday) is a continuation of the ongoing engagement between NERC and the Lagos State Government on the Lagos State Embedded Power Programme.
“We are convinced that the offer by our government to deploy the state’s balance sheet in support of power generation, transmission, distribution, gas supply, metering, collection and enforcement in Lagos State will significantly relieve the national grid and free more energy for distribution to other parts of Nigeria.
“The proposed power programme will generate up to 3,000MW of power through accelerated deployment of various power plants in strategic locations across the state by private sector power providers within three to six years.”
The state government, he said, would issue guarantees in support of the Power Purchase Agreements that would be signed between the distribution companies and the private sector embedded power providers to enhance bankability of the projects.