ECOWAS invests $ 36b in unified regional electricity project

TEconomic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) has said it invested $ 36 billion in the West African Power Pull ( WAPP) project. The programme is to integrate operations of the group’s national electricity grids into a unified regional energy market. ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, Mines, Water Resources, Digitalisation and Postal Services, Seiko Douka, who spoke yesterday in Abuja, said the project was to provide citizens of member states with a stable, regular and reliable power supply at a competitive cost in the medium and long term.

The WAPP project, being implemented between 2019 and 2033 for regional power generation and transmission, targets building 23,000 kilometres of interconnection lines, as well as generating 16,000 megawatts of electricity.

A breakdown of the funds showed that $ 25.912 billion went into production, while $ 10.480 billion was expended on transmission.

Douka, while disclosing some of the achievements of the regional body in the energy sector, noted that WAPP promotes and develops electricity production and transmission facilities and equipment, as well as coordinates electricity trading among ECOWAS member states.

He, however, decried the high cost of electricity in the region, thereby negatively impacting economic activities, especially industrial development.

The official also lamented the deficit in electricity production in the region despite the huge potential. Other challenges he listed include poor energy access, low development of renewable energies and an unbalanced energy mix, which stood at 2/ 3 thermal to 1/ 3 hydro, resulting in a low proportion of solar and wind energies.