Yemisi Izuora
Chairman, Sahara Group, owners of Egbin Power Station, Kola Adesina, has said that the company is planning to boost its power generation and therefore will raise more money for investment in that area.
The company is anticipating to inject capital to meet its 10,000 megawatts Capacity in the next ten years.
Adeshina who disclosed this at the 4th graduation ceremony of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) graduate Skill Development Programme (NGSDP) in Lagos said that the company is investing in transmission and gas supply, to create a smooth value chain for it to operate.
“Egbin is working closely with KEPCO to embark on achieving its vision of attaining 2,670MW by 2017 and total capacity of over 10,000MW in the next decade, if demand permits.
To ensure that this is achieved, plans have been put in place for continuing capital investments as well as robust human capital development initiatives that will involve exchange programmes and training courses for all cadres of staff in Egbin,’’ he said.
The chairman said that currently Egbin power station installed capacity stood at over 2,200 megawatts, while generation has moved from 220 megawatts met to over 1,300 megawatts
In his remarks, Mr Godknows Igali, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, said that current power generation hovers between 4,600 to 4,700 mega watts but that the country has the capacity to generate up to 5,000 mega watts.
Igali said that the improvement in generation is a combination of output from thermal and hydro power plants.
Igali advised the newly graduated engineers to be more focused in helping to sustain ongoing power sector reform and also urged distribution companies to employ the young engineers.
Mr Reuben Okeke, Director General, NAPTIN,said the success of the recent power sector reform will in part depend on the availability of a qualified worforce to meet the needs of the industry and the corresponding need to structure its operations to reflect the needs of the private sector.
He said NAPTIN is currently working with CPCS,a leading international consulting outfit,through funding support of the Agence Francaise de Development to evolove a new strategic plan which encompasses the training needs of the new private entrants as well as their participation in the delivery process
He said NAPTIN graduated 156 engineers comprising of 79 distributions engineers, 73 generation and 4 in the transmission cadre.
“out of this number 100 have been sponsored by the Sahara Power Group, 45 by the Taraba State Government, 3 by the Yobe State Government while eight are self-sponsored.