Siemens-FG power deal: President Buhari urges stakeholders in PPI to complete transaction process by December 2022
Oredola Adeola
The Nigerian Government has urged parties involved in the Nigeria-Siemens Power Project under the Presidential Power Initiative(PPI) to show more commitment towards the attaining completion of the entire transaction process by December 2022, adding that this would entrench the mandate of the PPI in full committal terms.
President Muhammadu Buhari on this when he was having a conversation with Dr. Christian Bruch, Siemens President and Chief Executive Officer, Nadia Haakansson, CEO of Siemens Africa, and Mr. Seun Suleiman, CEO of Siemens Nigeria, officials of Siemens Energy AG on Thursday in Abuja
The Siemens team had earlier on Thursday in a session with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to discuss some of the issues associated with the deal.
EnergyDay reported that Siemens had in September 2022, delivered the first batch of 2 units of transformers out of 10 mobile transformers and 10 mobile substations, ordered by the Federal Government.
Sean Manley, PPI Project Director, at Siemens Energy, in an exclusive chat with EnergyDay mentioned that the two transformers were the first batch of supplies of the transformers to be delivered by Siemens in phase 1 of the Nigeria-Siemens deal to increase end-to-end operational power capacity to 7000MW.
According to President Buhari, I would like to see how to attain completion of the entire transaction process by December 2022, this will entrench the mandate of the PPI in full committal terms.
He said, ”The PPI remains a priority project for our administration, and Nigerians believe in the value that the Siemens’ brand can deliver.
“On our part, nothing is spared to ensure we improve the lives and livelihoods of our citizens.”
”I have been reliably assured that 10 Power Transformers and 10 Mobile Substations would have been completely delivered and installed by May 2023.
While restating the Nigeria Government’s commitment to the partnership with Siemens and the German Government to improve electricity generation in the country, President Buhari urged Siemens not to relent in efforts to ensure that Nigeria’s commitment to delivering the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) is fulfilled.
President Buhari emphasised that the PPI will deliver critical business enablers and opportunities to unlock young enterprising Nigerians in various endeavours.
He praised the decision to train 200 Nigerian engineers on network development studies under the initiative, saying that this represents a very important upskilling and knowledge transfer process. The president added that he was eagerly looking forward to the 5,000 engineers coming home at the end of their training.
President Buhari also commended Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the German Government’s continued support for the PPI
He said, “A plan to deliver capacity improvements of 2,000 megawatts in the transmission-distribution interface is now firmly the focus of PPI Phase I.
Dr. Christian Bruch, in his reaction to the President’s remark, restated the commitment of his team to the PPI, he said, “We will push forward in the weeks and months ahead, as we need to move the process faster.”
The Siemens President also promised to continue with training and improvement of capacities, adding that though general elections were ahead in Nigeria, ”the power initiative will continue, as we are fully committed, and will accelerate the process.”
The Minister of Power, Engr Abubakar Aliyu, said that Nigerians will be thankful to President Buhari for the remarkable initiative of the PPI for a long time after leaving office, emphasising that the power sector will be revitalized.”
According to him, Siemens was one of the world’s best in power, ”and will surely deliver.
EnergyDay gathered that the Presidential Power Initiative (formerly the Nigeria Electrification Roadmap) was formed on August 31, 2018, in Abuja, between Nigeria and Germany, during a visit of Angela Merkel former German Chancellor, and her business delegation which included Joe Kaeser, Siemens AG CEO.
The two countries agreed to explore cooperation with the aim of resolving the challenges in the power sector and expanding Nigeria’s operational capacity of 25,000 megawatts (MW) from the current average of around 4,500 MW, through a series of projects spanning three phases, for the country’s future power needs.
Siemens was expected to facilitate the project through the German Export Credit Agency (Euler Hermes AG), other ECA, and other financing Agencies.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had in December 2021, allocated €62.9 million and $1.9 million to drive the project.
