GE Commits to Deploying Full Tech to Achieve Nigeria’s Energy Sufficiency

Mohammed Mijindadi, Managing Director of General Electric Power, in charge of gas power plants (Anglophone West Africa), has pledged their commitment to deploying full technology for the country to achieve sufficiency in the energy sector.

Despite the convoluted state of the Nigerian power sector, Mijindadi insisted that the problems of the sector were still very much solvable, but that many stakeholders needed to be aligned.

According to him, there are gas producers who are looking for where to push their gas to get the best value and who are incentivized to sell their gas in Nigeria.

“We have the generating companies (GenCos) who cannot generate without gas. It would be easy for GenCos to take the gas but they do not own it. So, they depend on other parties who have other obligations and constraints.

“The transmission also comes with its unique challenges. At some point, the Transmission Company was concessioned but not much was achieved. There has not been sufficient investment in the infrastructure.”

He remarked that currently, the Transmission Company can move only 5,000MWs, which is the reason Nigeria may be a part of the market where people feel they can get money from. But it is not the fault of the companies, he noted. There are the distribution companies (DisCos) too, which have been fully privatized but where there are still challenges.

He narrated that efficiency would improve if the industry stakeholders are more aligned, enabling each player to ring-fence its operations for optimal performance rather than depending on a chain they have no control over. He added that the frustration is rooted in inefficiency that is created by the convoluted chain.

In conclusion, he stated that full optimization of Nigeria’s national grid should be a critical part of the discourse around achieving sustainable energy.