Nigeria, August 24, 2016 – Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola Tuesday commissioned the 1.2MW Solar Power Plant in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja describing it as a demonstration of the commitment of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to the fulfillment of all campaign promises.
In his address, Fashola told his audience made up of local and international energy stakeholders, development partners as well as Ministry and Agency officials, that the renewable energy project dedicated to the Usuma Dam Water Treatment Plant was a ground breaking achievement because water meant life, good health and enormous opportunities for the people.
The Minister noted that one of the things the present administration promised the people was that it would continue with uncompleted projects left by the past administration that would benefit the citizenry adding that the water treatment plant was one of such projects.
According to the Minister, “One of the things that this administration under President Buhari has promised is that we will continue with all projects that are feasible, that are viable and we will complete them, this project is one of the projects and it is now completed”, adding that it was one of the projects that define the administration’s roadmap to power sufficiency.
“We said when we launched our roadmap to Power development that we will start from Incremental Power because there is not enough power, we will go from Incremental Power to Steady Power and then to Uninterrupted Power. This is one of the Incremental Power source and today we have added to the amount of power available”, the Minister said.
Recalling that the administration also promised to expand the country’s energy mix and make it less dependent on gas, Fashola, who said the energy mix would include expansion to coal, hydro, solar and wind energy, added, “We have started our work today, we are expanding to solar energy. With this solar plant, we are demonstrating our commitment that we will do what we say.”
The Minister, who said the administration was also committed to embracing and enhance, relationships, partnerships and collaborations that impact on the people in a manner that would benefit them, added, “These will be in a manner that the people will be able to get up in the morning and say “I am going to work”.
One of the benefits, the Minister said, was to create jobs with every initiative. “Again we have fulfilled that commitment because six engineers, 60 technicians and a large number of support staff got the opportunity to work in this plant and when this project is finished not all of them will leave the site because it has to be maintained. So it will be a continuous partnership that will continue to impact on the people”, he said.
Pointing out that the roadmap to uninterrupted power would lie more with the people through energy conservation, Fashola declared, “We have done our part” adding that the citizens must embrace the culture off energy conservation through switching of energy where and when it is not in use and also in the way they build their houses.
Listing other benefits of the project, the Minister revealed that through the project, water treatment bills would reduce by N31Million per annum while carbon emission would reduce by 741 tonnes per annum adding, “That means more savings and cleaner air. So it is not just about power for its purpose, it is power for the sake of the people. It is power that brings water, power that brings cleaner air and power that brings good health”.
Thanking the development partners, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), for their commitment and confidence in the nation’s economy, Fashola, who also congratulated them for winning the Olympic hosting right for 2020 in Tokyo, declared, “It is the beginning of more relationships that you will see. It sits very well with our roadmap of Incremental, Steady and Uninterrupted power. So we have seen one solar plant powering a water plant, we will see more solar plants powering universities powering all sorts of facilities.
This is our word and we will keep it”.
While fielding questions from newsmen after the event and a tour of the Solar Power Plant, Fashola, who again expressed confidence that the nation would achieve its objective of getting Incremental, Steady and Uninterrupted power supply, assured the citizenry that the country was already on its way to attaining the height as well as competing with other countries who have already attained that position across the world.
The Minister told the journalists, “We are still on our way, but our country is not behind; our country can compete, our country has a government who knows the time it is in, who knows the challenges”, even as he urged Nigerians to be patient and have confidence in the present leadership. “It has the commitment, it has the leadership in a President that is determined to set things right. So people should just be confident that we will come out of this difficulty,” he said.
Recalling that when one North African country commissioned a big solar power last year some people were wondering what the Ministry was doing, Fashola declared, “People should just be confident that we will come out of this difficulty. Sometimes, as I said, this kind of adversity brings out the best in us and we will see more of solar, hydro and all sorts of energy consistent with what we want to do; get incremental power from everywhere we can”.
He said the speed with which the nation achieves incremental power would depend largely on the capacity of the developers and the financing appetite of those who are going to finance the projects adding, “Those kinds of projects are not done with the money that you keep under the pillow; they are going to be financed”.
The Minister said the next step after the commissioning of the project was for the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company to sign the off-take power adding, “These are the events that you see going on, these are the events that drive the economy; people ordering equipment, electrical equipment, engineers and artisan getting involved, coupling them together”.
Expressing the hope that some of the component parts of the plant would be manufactured in Nigeria in order to save the cost of importing them again, Fashola, who recalled that the components were in bits and pieces, added, “It was a lot of work that has gone on between last year and now to put on the Photovoltaic panels”, disclosing that the Ministry was already talking to more people so that Nigerians would see more of such projects.
Earlier in his remarks, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Babatope Ajakaye expressed delight that the FCT was the preferred choice for the location of the project, which, according to him, “represents a a good example of international collaboration in addressing critical developmental issues”.
The Minister, while describing as gratifying the fact that the project had recorded appreciable progress given the completion of the first phase, also expressed the hope that the various parties involved- the Federal Government, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Japanese Government – would remain focused and see it through to its logical conclusion.
Thanking the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, and other participating Ministries and Agencies for their concerted efforts in ensuring the completion of the project on schedule, Bello promised that the FCTA would continue “to work with relevant stakeholders to make Abuja the pride of all Nigerians”.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Chief Representative of Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Nigeria Office, Mr. Hirotaka Nakamura, said the project, which was “for Introduction of Clean Energy by Solar Electricity Generation System”, was designed to introduce a demonstration unit of solar electricity generation system with a view to increasing its economic strength on a sustainable basis.
Nakamura, who said the first Phase of the project being commissioned would contribute 1.2Megawatts of solar energy to the National Grid to serve the Lower Usman Dam Water Treatment Plant, added that second Phase would bring additional 207KWp generation to the system by January next year, pointing out that the choice of Lower Usman Dam for the project was because the treatment plant was the main source of portable drinking water to Abuja.
Expressing gratitude to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and all other relevant Ministries and Agencies “for their tireless efforts towards realising the project” and the development partners, including Crown Agents, Yachiyo Engineering Consultants, Toyota Tsusho and Hitachi Plant Construction, “for carrying out quality works without any delay”, Nakamura expressed the hope that January next year would see the completion of the project.
Also present at the event were the Minister of State in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri and the Permanent Secretary, Power, in the Ministry, Engnr. Louis Edozien who earlier in his Opening Remarks gave a historical overview of the project among other top government officials.
