The minister of power Chinedu Nebo has declared that it would be a difficult task to assure of uninterrupted electricity supply in Nigeria.
According to the minister, “Nobody in the world can provide 24/7 electricity everywhere in Nigeria”.
Nebo who spoke to journalists in London, added that current capacity is 4,500 megawatts while 160,000 megawatts would be needed to provide uninterrupted power supply.
“The cost of providing electricity per megawatt on average is $2billion. To get to where South Africa is, you will need about $3.2trillion (about N672trillion). Where will you find that kind of money?” he asked.
Prof. Nebo said power projects also take time to come to fruition, stressing that it takes between four and six years to deliver the power projects.
“You don’t buy these things off the shelves. It takes time to design, study, procure, manufacture, install and commission”, he said.
He however noted that government had done so much on generation capacity, transmission and distribution infrastructure, which are key necessities in power supply.
The minister further said the current facilities and infrastructure on the ground had the capacity to provide more than 5,000 megawatts in the country, but lamented that some saboteurs were bent on ensuring that the target is not achieved by vandalising gas pipelines on a regular basis.
Yemisi Izuora/Ijeoma Agudosi