Yemisi Izuora
In keeping with its commitment to bolster growth and efficiency in the Energy Sector, the Sahara Power Group will join other power sector thought leaders to address the industry’s challenges and opportunities at the 2018 edition of Light Up Nigeria Energy Conference.
The conference will focus on “Repositioning the Energy Sector for Growth’ and will attract experts across various sub-sectors to share insights on unlocking opportunities for growth in the sector.
An affiliate of Sahara Group, a leading international energy conglomerate, the Sahara Power Group is one the largest private power businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its operating entities include, First Independent Power Limits, FIPL; Egbin Power Plc, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest privately owned thermal power generation plant and Ikeja Electric Plc, Nigeria’s leading Electricity Distribution Company.
Speaking ahead of the conference, the Chairperson for the Conference, Mr. Tonye Cole, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Sahara Group, explained that the Group’s partnership with Brandzone LLC, is a reflection of its concerted collaboration with stakeholders in the power value chain, in its bid to significantly contribute to the transformation of the sector for the benefit of all Nigerians.
According to him: “We are delighted to partner with Light Up Nigeria in a dual capacity. Sahara is not just a corporate player in most of the concerned sub-sectors, we also have a social purpose to fulfil by leading the movement to ‘Light up Nigeria’ and the wider sub-Saharan African region. I fully anticipate contributing to and learning from the conversation.”
Mr. Cole reiterated the need for the Energy sector to position itself to play a more dominant role as a development and growth catalyst for the economy, while expressing optimism that the 2018 Conference will definitely offer valuable insights in addressing the challenges, reveal more opportunities and innovative approach to achieving efficiency in the sector.”
Speaking further to the glaring ‘resource to capacity’ deficit blighting the country, Group Managing Director of Sahara Power Group Limited and Chairman of Egbin Power Plc, Mr. Kola Adesina remarked that Nigeria has Africa’s largest natural gas reserves but still disabled from generating power at even a third of capacity and he sees the conference as a platform to dissect the problem. He also pointed out that it further gives the industry stakeholders the opportunity to proffer solutions both as corporates and concerned citizens.
In his words: “We could argue that lighting up Nigeria is a metaphor for powering the rest of the region with electricity. Getting power to homes and businesses has to be at the top of both national and regional socio-economic agendas. We are fully committed to seeking new and sustainable means of keeping our turbines turning and the economy growing.”
Post the 2013 privatization exercise, SPG’s entities have continued to enhance the profile of the sector through ongoing investments in human capital, technology and service excellence. Egbin has continuously invested in human capital and infrastructure upgrade to enhance the plant’s productivity. This is evident in its planned investments in additional gas pipelines, and the proposed Floating Storage & Regasification Unit (FSRU) project, Egbin Phase 2 project with an estimated capacity of between 1,350MW and 1800MW using modern technologies. It is the largest power generating plant in Nigeria and contributes over 20% of total electricity generated across Nigeria.
Ikeja Electric occupies a key position in the nation’s power sector geographically for its privileged coverage of many industrial centres. Since 2013, the company has embarked on execution of critical projects to stabilize the network and close identified immediate gaps in technical and customer service deliveries