Nnaji: Nigeria Has Not Financed Construction of Any Major Power Plant for 11 Years

*Geometric Power chair blames policy reversals for stalled projects,

*Says gas must drive country’s industrialisation

Peter Uzoho

Chairman of Geometric Power Group, Prof. Barth Nnaji has bemoaned the ugly state of the Nigeria electricity sector, stating that the country has not financed any major power generating plant in 11 years after government scrapped key risk guarantees that once attracted global investors.

Nnaji stated this Monday in Lagos at the ongoing 19th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE), under the theme: “Evolution of Future Energy Mix in Africa: The Role of Technology, Economics, and Public Policy”.

Nnaji, a former Minister of Power, said policy inconsistency remains the biggest barrier to electricity growth in the country.

He recalled that during his time in government, he and the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo–Iweala had set up Partial Risk Guarantee Instruments to finance power projects, leading to the successful building of the Azura-Edo Power Plant under that instrument.

He regretted that that partial risk guarantee instrument was discarded when there was a change of government, and that no major power plant has been financed in the last 11 years.

Nnaji explained: “Myself and the former minister of finance at that time, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, we set up what we called partial risk guarantee instruments to finance power. And it was working. So, in fact, Azura-Edo power plant got financed using that instrument.

“But as soon as government changed, it got wiped away. Until today, we have not financed any major power plant in Nigeria. That’s about 11 years.”

Nnaji argued that government policy is key to unlocking the country’s vast energy resources.

According to him, Nigeria holds over 210 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, but not harvesting these reserves for the development of the country.

He added that Nigeria is not also building the infrastructure enough to enable the utilisation of the abundant gas resources.

He cited the Nigeria LNG Limited that is struggling to operate at “about 60 per cent capacity, because of non-availability of the gas itself.”

Nnaji faulted the global energy transition pressure on Nigeria and Africa to abandone fossil fuel and move to renewable energy, pointing to Europe’s pivot after the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Europe, that had been harassing the entire world about renewable energy. They were the first to abandon that paradigm. Germany immediately went back to coal”, he argued.

For Nigeria, the Geometric chair said gas remains the practical path, stressing that the focus now is about a cleaner form of fossil fuel, which is natural gas.

He predicted that for the next 20 years, Nigeria will be relying on different forms of natural gas to power her economy.

He said Coal plants, though an option, were very expensive and nearly impossible to finance today.

While projects like Mambila have lingered for more than 40 years, Nnaji expressed optimism that it was doable.

He said Congo’s Inga Dam could deliver 100,000MW, saying studies have showed that a 1,000-kilometre line to Calabar was feasible.

“If we are going to talk about the continent, we can share power… We just are not thinking.”

Nnaji listed other priorities to rescue the power sector including cost-reflective tariffs, power purchase agreement support, laws against energy theft, and methane management, concluding that Nigerians should make good use of what they have.