The Federal Government has sealed a contract with German firm, Siemens, for the pre-engineering phase of the Presidential Power Initiative that seeks to boost power generation in the country.
It was gathered that the award letters were signed last Thursday by Siemens Energy Nigeria and FGN Power Company, a special purpose vehicle created by the Federal Government for the project.
The Federal Government and Siemens AG had in July 2019 signed a Letter of Agreement on the Nigerian Electrification Roadmap, now Presidential Power Initiative, with the aim of ramping up electricity generation in the country to 25,000 megawatts in six years.
The Federal Executive Council, on July 29, 2020, approved the payment of €15.21m (N6,940,081,465.20) offshore and N1.708bn onshore as part of Nigeria’s counterpart funding for the power deal.
It was also gathered that with the issuance of the award letters, Siemens can now begin the pre-engineering scope of the project
“This award enables Siemens AG and Siemens Energy to drive forward this mega project, which will upgrade the electricity network to achieve operational capacity of 25,000 megawatts from the current average of around 4,500 MW, through a series of projects spanning three phases,” a document seen by our correspondent said.
The pre-engineering aspect will include engineering design works, specifications for onshore installation, commissioning works for the transmission and distribution systems, network development studies, power simulation, training, and support services.
It was learnt that the signing of the award letters was witnessed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed and the Minister of Power, Mr. Saleh Mamman.
According to the Federal Government, the PPI’s investment objective is to realign and optimise the available capacities across generation, transmission and distribution sectors of the electricity industry.
The Managing Director, Siemens Energy Nigeria, Seun Suleiman, was quoted as saying, “Siemens Energy is committed to work with the Federal Government of Nigeria through the FGNPowerCo to see a successful implementation of the presidential power initiative. We have successfully carried out a similar project in Egypt.
“This project will transform the energy landscape of the country and we are grateful the government has entrusted us with this notable initiative. We are capable and we will deliver excellent results.”
