Enugu Govt Targets 700MW as Review of State’s Draft Electric Regulatory Framework Begins

The Enugu State government has said it is working to ramp up the state’s electricity capacity from the 70MW currently supplied by the national grid to 700MW through private sector investment. A statement yesterday said this was in line with the state’s vision to grow its economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion and meet its electricity need.

The government said it was eager to get the inputs of industry stakeholders into the state’s draft electricity regulatory framework to make the electricity market viable.

That was even as developers, operators, investors, financiers, consumers, among other stakeholders, commended what they described as the transparency and proactive attitude of the state in its effort to build an electricity market where everyone’s interest was protected.

The state government and industry players spoke at a stakeholders’ engagement and consultation organised in Enugu, the state capital, by the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) to review its draft regulatory instruments.

Declaring the event open, Governor Peter Mbah, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government, Professor Chidiebere Onyia, said the campaign promise to resuscitate pipe-borne water, improve security, education and healthcare delivery services was on course.

Onyia said the plan to revamp and expand the road network, create the enabling environment for business development, job creation and economic growth would not be possible without a drastic improvement in electricity services.

He said, “Therefore, we are opening up the entire value chain of the electricity market in Enugu State for all market participants to play, from supply to generation, transmission to distribution, electricity retailing through off-grid to mini-grid solutions and from metering to energy efficiency applications.”

He assured the industry players of the continued independence of EERC to operate without political or administrative interference.

Chairman of EERC, Chijioke Okonkwo, who regretted the present power deficit in the state, stated that the commission needed to carry everyone along from the outset in order to build the investors’ confidence required to turn things around.

Okonkwo stated, “We have given ourselves some projected targets that within the next two years (2026), Enugu State should be consuming at least 300 megawatts and by 2030 we would have hit at least 700 megawatts.

“Right now, we are getting approximately 70 megawatts from the national grid. And this is not sufficient for us to say that we want to put ourselves in the position to industrialise. We want to change that narrative.

“However, industry players and operators want a place where they can carry out commercially viable businesses. They are here to make money, but they are also expected to provide services that are reliable and sustainable and also undertake these service for the long term and not the short term.

“So, this engagement will give them an opportunity to make inputs and let us agree on what these regulations should speak to in order to support their investment initiatives before the finalisation, adoption, and implementation of the regulatory framework.”

Managing Director of Siemens Energy Nigeria, Seun Suleiman, commended the transparency of the state government through its regulatory agency.

Suleiman stated, “I see a lot of transparency here today. Each commissioner is breaking down all the discussions in terms of the regulation and how you will get the permit. We are very happy because we also want to support a lot of these captive power investors with our ranges of gas turbines, which we have done in so many places.”

Acting Managing Director of the Infrastructure Bank, Nkiru Chime, said funding was needed to drive investment in the power sector.

Chime explained, “Enugu State is being very proactive in setting out how the electricity market will play. But funding is needed to drive the investment, and that is why we are here to provide an avenue to enable all the participants or market developers to attract the right kind of funding to develop the market.

“We believe that once the projects are structured correctly, once the projects are viable, you can attract an unlimited source of funding.”