Yesterday, the federal government announced that the mega transformers it ordered under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) had successfully passed a factory acceptance test, reigniting hopes for an improvement in the power supply.
According to a statement from the Federal Ministry of Power, the first shipment is scheduled to arrive in Nigeria in September of this year and is expected to come from the Siemens transformer factory in Trento, Italy.
The Managing Director of the Federal Government of Nigeria Power Company (FGN-Power), Mr Kenny Anuwe, who led a delegation that included engineers from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), witnessed the factory acceptance test conducted on Thursday in Europe.
In the statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, on Media, Mr Isa Sanusi noted that the acceptance test has paved the way for Siemens Energy to start delivering the transformers to Nigeria. The development is coming after Aliyu had led a delegation to Germany in April, where he paid visits to Siemens Energy factories in Berlin and Frankfurt, and held meetings with the senior leadership of Siemens Energy.
He engaged the company on the need to fast-track the delivery of the early orders that it said would kick-start the transformation of Nigeria’s electricity.
“The successful factory acceptance test shows Nigeria’s engagement with Siemens Energy is on track. It also shows the federal government’s commitment to addressing Nigeria’s electricity challenges,” said the minister. In December 2021, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and Aliyu secured the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for €63 million for the procurement of equipment to boost power supply under the PPI.
The first phase is expected to provide 10 mobile power substations and 10 mega transformers that will be deployed across the country to boost and stabilise electricity supply, the government stated.
