By ADEWALE SANYAOLU
When the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) was conceived in 2004 as a fast-track government funded initiative to stabilize Nigeria’s electricity supply system while the private-sector led structure of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) of 2005 took effect, little did it know that the initiative could be encountered with some bottle necks currently threatening the realization of government’s 10,000 mega watts target by December 2013 NIPP was originally designed around seven medium sized gas fired power stations in the gas producing states, and the critical transmission infrastructure needed to evacuate the added power into the national grid.
A commitment to electrify host communities in the vicinity of the power stations and major substations gave rise to the distribution component of the project.
In August 2005, the National Council of State and the National Assembly approved an initial funding of US$2.5 billion for NIPP from the “Excess Crude Oil Account” (ECOA) which statutorily belongs to the Federal, state and local governments.
The Federal Government therefore incorporated Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) as a limited liability company to serve as the legal vehicle to hold the NIPP assets using private sector-oriented best business practices.
No comments:
Post a Comment