Enugu State government has unveiled a transition plan from an energy poor state to a commercially viable electricity market generating over 690 megawatts of electricity and at least 20-hour per day power supply by 2030.
The government also said the urgency of the state in enacting the Enugu State Electricity Law to take immediate advantage of the 2023 constitution amendment and the Electricity Act 2023 to set-up a viable Enugu electricity market and reliable energy supply is in tandem with its economic growth plan to make Enugu State a leading industrial hub.
These were made known by the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, during a Roundtable themed “The Electricity Act 2023” Implications and Opportunities for State Electricity Market” organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF), for the state governments and critical stakeholders in Abuja on Wednesday.
The governor, who was represented by the secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the state was deliberate in its effort to create an enabling environment for energy players and investors to come in and help grow the state’s GDP from the present $4.4 billion to $30 billion.
He said: “As a government, we have set out an ambitious economic growth plan and integral to that plan is the electricity needs of Enugu State and the investors that will be coming into Enugu State.
“So, keeping that in mind, what we have gone ahead to do is to set out the processes right after the constitutional amendment. We are creating our own Enugu State electricity market. Our key objective for doing this is to ensure the reliability of power that will serve as a catalyst for that growth by making the private sector actors feel comfortable to come to Enugu State.
“Enugu State’s plan is to be one of the first three investors’ focus and locations in Nigeria; and to do that we have to make sure that we have constant or reliable power as well as encourage a market where investors feel that the power arrangement is governed by a process that is both constitutional and backed by the right policy. That is the reason we decided as a government for Enugu State to be one of the leading states in setting up an electricity market.”
