Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday commissioned the Afam 3 Fast Power 240-megawatt (MW) turbine plant in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as part of sustained efforts by the Federal Government to boost power generation and supply in the country.
The Afam 3 power project, which was executed in collaboration with General Electric (GE) and the Federal Government, is expected to add 966 MW of electricity to the country’s national grid.
The Vice President, in his keynote address at the commissioning of the power plant, noted that the project was executed by Transcorp Power, one of the leading private investors in the nation’s electricity sector.
He disclosed that the company’s Ughelli power plant had just been delisted from the privatization monitoring initiative of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) based on its performance as a major player in the power sector.
Osinbajo recalled the various projects initiated and executed by the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to improve electricity supply in the country.
He said: “In 2020, electricity subsidies reached N584 billion, but service-based tariffs have led to a doubling of collection in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) from N40 billion in 2020, to N80 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
“If this trajectory continues, the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry will be able to pay for itself. Our administration has also created programs for off-grid electrification. Rural Electrification Agency (REA) now has the capacity to provide electricity supply on a first-class basis.
“We are on track to electrify all Nigerians in the next decade. However, we will not make progress if our gas supply does not improve. The gas supply challenges are hampering improvements”, the Vice President stressed.
He commended General Electric, the National Council on Privatization (NCP) as well as the host communities on the successful completion of the power project and expressed optimism that the plant would boost the country’s power supply in the years ahead.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government and Transcorp Power Consortium in November 2020 signed a share sale and purchase agreement on the Afam Power Plc and Afam 3 Fast Power Limited, which is designed to add 966 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.
Prior to that time, the NCP had, at its meeting held on August 22 and 23, 2017, approved the privatization of the Afam Power Plant following which a competitive bidding process for the plant involving 12 prospective investors in which Transcorp Power Consortium emerged as the preferred bidder with a combined offer of N105 billion.
