China-Africa: FG Partners China On 500mw Electricity
To meet up its target of generating 6000mw by December this year, the Federal Government is to partner the Peoples Republic of China to generate 500mw.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mrs. Dieziani Alison-Madueke, made this disclosure in Abuja, during a meeting with the Chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Limited, Mr. Jiang Jianqing.
She said “We want to start with modules of 500mw transmission, but we will be using the smaller modules of 300mw in multiples, just as you have in Botswana 150mw in multiples.”
She described it as a strategic project since the era of colonial masters in the 60s.
“The coal has been there. We have over 2.7 billion metric tonnes of coal in the country, and for these projects not to have been kick-started seems bare, but it is an exciting project. We expect to support the ministry of power very adequately in doing this, in conjunction with Standard Bank, since you have currently gone into over 60 deals infrastructure across the African continent,” she added.
The minister also said that the project was of great interest to Nigeria because the country has other strategic mineral resources it is keen on developing with its creation of a very robust framework on which to move forward, like the bitumen, which more major investors are expected to show interest in.
She noted that economic emphasis on some key minerals was strategic because of their economic importance to the nation. “Some of these minerals, are coal for the cost of diesel because it is high in terms of commodity market”, she stressed.
“Limestone has very high quantity of 2.2 feet trillion and Nigeria also has deposit of cement which has other uses and we have 27 billion barrels of bitumen and tar sands in Nigeria not to mention the actual asphalt content of the bitumen that we would like to exploit for the purposes of road construction, Barite, lead and zinc as well.
“And so, this is really the time that we are deliberating and articulating very strong programmes and projects to try and exploit our mineral resources to the optimum. We have 100 percent ownership of mines by foreign investors, they are also guaranteeing tenure as well as various incentives that are being put in place to ensure that we improve the environment and put things on ground this time for international investors. This is an on-going effort by the federal government.
She added that the Nigeria is in dire need of extra power in the national grid of the country, to this effect, we have put together eleven strategic coal cluster, the intention behind this is to ensure that each of these strategic clusters will provide quantities of coal to supply Independent Power Project (IPPs) that will be situated within the clusters that will generate power to transmission of five megawatts and above as production rounds up.
The reason for having the IPPs situated within the strategic clusters is to mitigate the amount of infrastructure logistics required to take the heavy quantities of coal from the companies to the actual power point themselves, because as you know we do not have the requisite quantities of infrastructures like the railway in the country at the moment to take these coal to the seaports or other parts of the country where they are demanded or the supply required.
We have gone ahead and put together this strategic platform with the expectation that with an alignment with the power ministry, we would be able to kick off this project in not too distant future. That was the whole purpose of creating the strategic clusters. So, we put together various blocks to ensure that the quantities of coal within those blocks will be able to supply these items.
The power ministry had to come in because of cost as this is happening, they will not only increase but strengthen the transmission grid to the nearest major power plants and then from there out to other parts of the country. We are looking hopefully to pick up a pilot project, and we have had discussions with IBTC regarding strategic support for the framework that will assist us in taking off this particular project with great interest and your strategic project in Botswana .
“The fact that you have put up power plants and have in-fact estimated that you will be able to put up about four independent turbans that is giving at least 150MW each at the end of the day and this is exactly the sort of project we would like to be put up in Nigeria.
Speaking also, the Chairman ICBC, Mr. Jianqing said as it is his last visit among the four countries trip to Africa; Nigeria is the most important economy in Africa due to its large population and big market.
According to him, “the rich natural resources and the short break in power, the shortage of Electricity is a symbol of the very hard movement of a country, we are here for an agreement for power station project.”
Adding, he said the choice of Nigeria among the countries to visit is of great benefit to both countries.
“I came to you and the Ministers of Finance and Power and also the Chief Economic Adviser to the President and they mentioned seven challenges in seven most important areas for Nigerian economic development and power industry is the ministry’s top agenda from the meeting.
Yesterday, I had lot of discussions with local companies and the government representatives and I got to know the importance of developing energy infrastructure and power. So far, a lot of people may know that Nigeria is rich in oil and gas resources production. It is also important to know that Nigeria as a country is rich in oil resources and in this regard, we do hope to work with the ministry to develop close cooperation with the mining industry in the country,” he added.
Assuring, he said, “ICBC as China ’s largest bank, hopes to provide the bridge between Nigeria and China in economic and social development.
(leadershipnigeria.com)
Tags: Nigeria