US Firm to Boost Nigeria’s Power Generation

Ejiofor Alike
The federal government’s policy initiatives in the power sector have continued to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as United States power firm, Bussbar Energy, has pledged to invest in the country’s power sector in order to be a significant producer of sustainable and environmentally friendly power.

The Managing Director of the company, which was established by a team of American investors, Bernie Conyers, said in a statement at the weekend, that the company was committed to providing bespoke solutions on site, adding that Bussbar is not the regular power generating or distribution company.
“We can make power generation and conservation more effective; we can generate, conserve and distribute up to one megawatt per site. So, there is no limit in theory”, Conyers said.

He also stated that, in the next 12 months, “Bussbar has prospect for generating, conserving and supplying a minimum of 50 megawatts of electricity to different projects on offer”.
Beyond power supply, Conyers said Bussbar was also intent on empowering Nigerian youths by way of training.
“Our focus is also in training young Nigerians without any pre-condition to bond them to Bussbar,” Conyers said, adding that a very significant aspect of this power generation initiative is the introduction of the fly-wheel technology.

According to him, this is an innovative approach to power conservation, storage and supply that is very friendly to the environment which aligns with the concept of sustainability that underlies Gracefield development, a new island project in Lekki, Lagos which is being developed on land reclaimed from the Lagos Lagoon.

Nigeria’s current dismal power supply and distribution situation in the country are a confirmation that there are fundamental distortions, from the onset, in the privatisation exercise of the federal government, starting with the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency which spanned 1999 to 2007.
But Conyers stated that hope is in the offing, not just for homes, but also for industrial concerns and new urban communities like Gracefield Island.

“Conyers believes that without the policy initiative of the federal government, this investment would not have been possible and, interestingly, the fly-wheel technology for power is already committed to Gracefield Island—an island city where technology plays a significant role in its concept and implementation,” he said.
Commenting on the investment, Ozo Nwafor of Gracefield said “The first attraction of Bussbar’s offering is that it complements the sustainability approach of our company and, crucially, it conforms to federal government’s policy and removes the need to apply for captive power licence”.

Recently, the federal government took a decision that power consumers in Nigeria should not be slaves to a less-than-desirable regulatory environment.
Following up on this, the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, launched some initiatives to ensure significant increase in power generation and distribution.

One of the most recent of such initiatives is the waiving of licensing requirements for power generation project of one megawatt or less.
Stakeholders have described this as a commendable action by the minister, considering a raft of self-sufficient communities and estates in major urban conurbations such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, which are in need of reliable power.