Sahara Power targets 10,000mw generation in 10 years

Sahara Power Group, a conglomerate in Nigeria’s power sector, is working towards achieving generation of 10,000mw in Africa within the next 10 years, through a combination of expansion projects, offshore acquisitions and investment in renewable energy.

The Sahara Power Group comprises Egbin Power plc, Ikeja Electric and First Independent Power Limited.

Kola Adesina, managing director, Sahara Power Group, said the target was in line with the organisation’s commitment to tackle the power conundrum with a new approach that was being driven by impeccable work ethics in the Group’s entities.

“Sahara Power Group of companies is operating under a new paradigm shift that has seen a resurgence of the values of good governance, integrity, discipline and expertise. The legacy and new staff have embraced this new approach to work, often going the extra mile to learn and do more in the pursuit of creating to value. This is a development that has played a key role in the recent increase in power supply across the nation,” he said.

Adesina, who spoke at the fourth graduation ceremony of the graduate skills development programme of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), said the organisation was quite hopeful that the 10,000mw target would be achieved given “a stable regulatory environment, resolution of all the complexities in the sector and capacity to utilise the increased generation.

“We are currently generating about 1,200mw in Egbin Power plc, which is responsible for one quarter of total power generation in Nigeria. We are ramping up capacity in Port Harcourt and would also explore opportunities for possible acquisition of power generation assets outside Nigeria. Our main focus for now is Nigeria, where we are laying the foundation for a major transformation in the sector in partnership with KEPCO, the globally renowned power group.”

Also speaking at the event, Godknows Igali, permanent secretary, Ministry of Power, said generation had been on the increase in the last three months largely due to improvements in gas supply and repositioning of the generating plants by their new owners. “Organisations like Sahara Power clearly tell the story of how important and effective the privatisation in the power sector has been. We recently hit a generation peak of 4,800mw and the trend is looking good. We are working at ensuring that all the loose ends in the sector are addressed to enable Nigeria experience accelerated socio-economic development that can only be driven by uninterrupted and widespread power supply,” Igali said.

Ruben Okeke, director-general, NAPTIN, said the institute had concluded plans to enhance the status and depth of its programmes through partnership with the University of Lagos.

Sahara Power sponsored 100 graduate engineers, all employees of its various entities, to the NAPTIN training programme.

Adesina said the young engineers would form the bedrock of power experts that would extend the frontiers of knowledge in the entire sector to “help improve the quality, cost, effectiveness and sustainability of power supply in the sector.”