“There is a move to fast track the system to ensure availability of gas to it plants.”

The Federal Government on Thursday said it will invest $8 billion (N1.3 trillion) in the development of the nation’s local gas potential to boost electricity supply across the country.

Vice President Namadi Sambo made this known when he received the management of Genesis Electricity (GE) Consortium led by Nigerian businessman, Arthur Eze, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Mr. Sambo said the amount would be invested by government on a Public Private Partnership basis to fast track the energy sector so as to ensure availability of gas to power plants nationwide.

He further appraised the efforts of government in putting institutional reforms that would guarantee private sector participation in the development of the gas infrastructure.

“Government, in its efforts to improve power generation, has planned to invest the sum of $8 billion on a Public Private Partnership basis to develop local gas potentials.

“There is a move to fast track the system to ensure availability of gas to it plants by involving owners of the new plants and international oil companies to get involved in gas infrastructure,’’ he said.

According to him, government plans to inject additional $3.7 billion to upgrade and expand the transmission grid to wheel up to 20,000 megawatts of electricity.

The vice president also narrated the efforts of government on the Zungeru and Mambila hydropower projects which were expected to generate 700mw and 3,050 mw, respectively.

He said the pilot scheme of the wind, solar and coal power projects, would provide about 10mw, while a Chinese company had proposed to generate 1000mw in Enugu in an effort to ensure mixed generation capacity.

Mr. Sambo, therefore, assured the Genesis Electricity of lots of activities and opportunities in Nigeria’s power sector.

He expressed appreciation for the confidence reposed in the Nigerian economy by the consortium to invest massively in the energy sector.

Mr. Sambo noted their investments in power plants that would support the sector in Calabar by injecting $300 million into the financial sector and their plans to support training of Nigerians to strengthen the power sector.

Earlier, Mr. Eze said that the consortium intended to invest $100 million in reviving the Port-Harcourt refinery project.

Mr. Eze pledged to extend frontiers of their investments to Kaduna and other refineries.

Present at the meeting were the Chairman, engro corp, Hassan Dawood; President and CEO of engro corp, Ali Ansari; and Darry Wilson, the Vice President of GE.

The others were George Njenga, General Manager GE; and Syed Muhammad Ali CEO/POWERGEN.

(NAN)