Text of Address by the Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo during the Official Commissioning of the 2X60MVA, 132/33KV Transmission Sub-Station in Karu, Abuja on October 21, 2013.

Protocols,

I stand tall today, giving all glory to God, for another opportunity to witness the birth of and indeed be the one to commission another power facility to bring the desired and well-deserved change to the lives of numerous Nigerian citizens.

Let me begin by recalling that barely two weeks ago, His Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan commissioned the 434MW Geregu 2 Power Station in Kogi State and just two days ago, commissioned Omotosho 2 Power Plant with a 500MW capacity. These developments kick-started the releasing of nearly 5,000MW of electricity into the national grid within the next few months from the ten completed NIPP plants under the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Ltd. And this is only part of the power generation plans under the reform programme.

Also related to today’s event, permit me to recall that on the 23rd of September, 2010 in Kubwa on the other side of the FCT, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan commissioned a project similar in scope and complexity to the one we’re unveiling today, resulting in tremendous improvement in power supply in that area.

It is not difficult to see that this occasion of the official commissioning of the World Bank - Assisted 2x60MVA, 132/33kV Transmission Sub-Station in Karu under the National Energy Development Project (NEDP) is equally life-changing, important and significant in more ways than one.

For the large and highly industrious population of Karu, Mararaba and environs, the epileptic nature of power supply became a familiar but tortuous experience over the years. But change has come.

With today’s commissioning, the transmission inadequacy in Karu Area has been squarely addressed. Moreso with the upgrading of the over-stretched 33KV transmission line all the way from the Apo transmission substation to the current 132KV line at the door step to reduce technical losses, the hitherto inadequate 30MVA power transformer capacity has now been upgraded to 120MVA to accommodate the higher load demand forecast in Vision 20:2020.

This project will certainly act as a catalyst for the development of small and medium scale businesses, promotion of industrial growth in these areas, and subsequently impacting positively on the well-being and overall living standards of individual families.

The GM, PMU Engr. Ciroma has already outlined some of the benefits to be derived from this project and I think it is worth celebrating that electricity consumers in Karu, Mararaba, Nyanya, Masaka, Jikwoi, Karshi and neighbouring parts of Nasarawa State will now enjoy about 15 to 18 hours quality supply of electricity daily as against the previously unpredictable supply patterns.

I wish to announce that by the Grace of God, this new experience for the residents of Karu and environs is just a taste of the new lifestyle that the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is ushering in for urban dwellers as well as the large population in the rural areas.

Let me seize this opportunity to intimate you with Government’s plan to stimulate the development of renewable and alternative energy for rural electrification and farm clusters by exploring these energy sources for viability in producing electricity. For each rural community, the Ministry of Power will implement micro-off grid wind or solar powered lighting systems to light up homes, community common areas or centres and major inlet/outlet roadways into communities. This scheme will provide access to electricity for the rural areas with distributed or low capacity supply in few kilowatts and solar or wind-powered energy-efficient lighting systems in two phases by the end of 2014.

Concrete results are beginning to manifest from the tireless work of all stakeholders in the electricity industry, especially in the past two years of the Jonathan administration. We must give Mr. President the credit for making power a cardinal point of his Transformation Agenda and for
launching and proactively driving the Power Sector Reform Roadmap.

Evidence that the reforms are working is also seen in the success story of the ambitious power sector privatisation exercise which is the largest and most transparent so far in Africa; the sustenance of generation and distribution infrastructure ahead of privatization even in the face of zero budget provision in the current year and the peaceful resolution of labour issues, among other things.

Acutely aware of the need to brace up to evacuate the expected huge volume of power to be generated in the coming weeks and months, we have since activated the contract with Manitoba of Canada for the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and we are also consciously and consistently strengthening transmission infrastructure across the country.

The Jonathan administration early in the day re-constituted and strengthened the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Bulk Trader, the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company Limited (NELMCO) and the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) all in the massive effort to deliver sufficient power to Nigerians, via deregulation.

For the development we’re celebrating today, I would like to profusely thank the World Bank for the funding. I need to put on record the fact that the World Bank is one of our greatest partners in overall national infrastructure development with particular emphasis on power. The presence of the World Bank Representative attests to this noble commitment.

While the Federal Government is partnering with security agencies to effectively check the menace of vandalism, let me end by making a passionate call on beneficiaries of this new facility to take necessary steps to ensure the safety of these installations.

Thank you all for joining us in this joyous event. And to the residents of Karu and environs, I say congratulations and welcome to your season of the good life!

Source: FMI*