Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Transcorp Power Ltd, Christopher Ezeafulukwe, has asked Nigeria to upgrade to 20,000 megawatts to avoid epileptic power supply in the country.
Addressing journalists at the company’s conference room in Ughelli, Delta State, yesterday, Ezeafulukwe said there a lot needs to be done to improve on the sector and to make the country equal or above other countries in the world.
He said: “it is a bit shameful that Nigeria, with more than 200 million people is still talking about 5,000 MW of power supply when countries with fewer populations had since upgraded.”
The company’s CEO said the only way to have an adequate power supply in the country is to upgrade the national grid: starting from generations, transmission to distribution of gas.
He suggested a domestic gas supply obligation for all producers of power in the country, adding: “If you are a gas company, there must be a percentage of gas you must dedicate to power beyond the one sell for commercial.”
According to him, gas needs to be harnessed and gas plants should not be thrown away, even if new ones are built.
Ezeafulukwe, who expressed sadness over the gas sector in Nigeria, said about 90 per cent of the plant needed for our turbine are imported, which to him, is sad development.
“Even major inspections of our turbines are done outside the country, which is a huge exchange of expenditures; and of course, it exposes us more because the world is a global place,” he added.
The company’s MD, who is piqued by Nigeria’s dependent on services from abroad, said the situation was bound to expose gas plants more to variance on logistics changes, saying: “We queue to wait for some clearance before being allowed to do our jobs, which, to a large extent, affected our turnaround, that is, if you have a turbine that would have come back in six months, it then take eight to 10 months.”
