Japan agency launches 25-year power plan

The Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) has has unveiled a master plan study on National Power Development for its intervention activities in Nigeria.

The scope of the proposed study report will include all its collaborative activities in the power sector, to cover the entire country with a target year between 2015 and 2040 (25 years).

The study is to include power development planning, power demand forecast generation planning (Thermal, Hydro), primary energy analysis, Transmission Sub-station, Environmental and Social consideration, to mention but a few.

Speaking at the event in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Power, Amb. (Dr.) Godknows Igali, commended JICA for this initiative, stressing that this will assist in the nation’s quest on how energy resources can be leveraged upon and deployed to end users optimally.

He said that with the long term projection of the proposed master plan study, he foresees that in the future, JICA’s report will assist Nigeria to harmonise all energy-related studies that are scattered here and there, with a view to bringing them together.

He promised that Nigeria will not disappoint the Japanese, as the people must have sacrificed a lot from their tax payers’ money, as huge sum would be deployed for the benefit of Nigerians. He called on other stakeholders to make valuable inputs to fill the seeming gaps that may exist in the proposed document.

On his own part, he observed that there are gaps in area of identification of new hydro sites along Rivers, Benue and Niger, and there are no mention of solar development, gas, hydro and wind.

He noted that more attention is accorded transmission value chain without concomitant attention to the two others – distribution and generation.

He said the document will be more useful if JICA collaborates with other donor agencies like World Bank, UNIDO, USAID, GIZ and indeed relevant government agencies.

On human resources component of the initiative, the Permanent Secretary told the Japanese to do more than the proposed seminar in which some Nigerians will be sponsored to Japan, to include sustainable training modules that would empower Nigerians in what JICA is doing.

Chief Representative of JICA, Nigeria office, Nakamura Hirotaka, identified the primary problem that informed the study. He said epileptic power supply is a major impediment to socio-economic growth of the country and has formed the impetus for the assignment.

JICA, he said, will work assiduously with relevant government agencies and development partners to come up with a workable document that will remove bottle-neck in the nation’s quest for availability of power to Nigerians.