Adebayo Adelabu, the Nigerian Minister of Power, on Sunday, 7 March 2024, confirms the arrival of the $2.3bn Siemens power electricity transformers and substation as the project gains traction.
The development was unveiled following months of several delays before the Federal Government renewed the mega power project contract with the German government and Siemens.
The Minister on Sunday stated the delay in the implementation and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Nigeria and Siemens to transform power transmission and distribution in Nigeria was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of Abba Kyari, the late Chief of Staff to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Adelabu, the late Kyari was the arrowhead of the project, which stalled until President Bola Tinubu came on board. He further stated that the Nigerian government signed a memorandum of understanding with Siemens Contracts, the German government, for the presidential power initiatives in 2018.
In a statement released by Adelabu’s media aide, Bolaji Tunji, he said, “The German government agreed to lend Nigeria $2.3bn and employ Siemens to transform Nigeria’s transmission and distribution sector.
“However, due to COVID-19, significant progress has yet to be made in implementing these projects. He further mentioned the project was supposed to proceed in two phases, but the pilot phase only progressed significantly when the Tinubu government emerged.
The minister of power reiterated that the pilot phase involved the offshore importation of ten power transformers and ten mobile substations, which served as a proof of concept for these projects.
Given this, five out of ten transformers have been installed at the designated locations across the country, and three out of 10 mobile substations have been installed.
Also, towards the success of the installation, there will be replacement and upgrades of 33KV and 11KV transformers and installation of almost 22,000km lines.
Adelabu is keen and assures the Nigerians of significant electricity improvement once the first phase has been successfully implemented.
