Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has projected an end to energy shortages and fuel scarcity in Nigeria within the next decade, the group CEO, Mele Kyari shared the outlook.
Kyari disclosed this on Tuesday, February 27 at the opening ceremony of the seventh Nigerian International Energy Summit in Abuja. He assured stakeholders of the company’s commitment to work with them to close the energy deficit gap.
The Group CEO also announced the near completion of the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Pipeline and ongoing tunnelling operations across the River Niger. In addition, the proposed African Energy Bank is a way of ensuring sustainable funding for energy projects in Africa to guarantee energy security.
“From all indications, all issues of energy scarcity in the country would be over in the next 10,” Mele said.
This is coming barely weeks after Nigeria’s Minister of Power Bayo Adelabu, blamed the epileptic power supply on the underutilization of the power plant.
Adelabu said the inability of power plants to operate to full capacity was due to unpaid debts and low gas supply.
Meanwhile, at a retreat organised by the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry in October 2023, President Bola Tinubu said about 90 million people in Nigeria do not have access to electricity.
“The national grid only serves about 15 percent of the country’s demand. This has left households and factories to rely on expensive self-generation, which supplies a staggering 40 per cent of the country’s demand.”
In addition, the Nigerian Electricity Report of Q1 OF 2023 indicated that 11.27 million customers in Nigeria have access to electricity. A customer here can refer to a household that has an average of 5 individuals. The quality of life of a large number of Nigerians is greatly affected by the lack of access to electricity.
The removal of fuel subsidy by President Tinubu last year has also led to a 150 per cent to 200 per cent surge in fuel costs (N500 – N600) across the country. Small and medium-sized enterprises are facing difficulties in accessing affordable power.
