Why Nigeria is yet to adopt coal as power source –Nebo

Nigeria is yet to embrace the use of coal to generate power because it has not been determined if the commodity is abundant in the country, the Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu has said.

Nebo, who spoke at the 7th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE) in Abuja, on Monday, noted that Nigeria could only venture into coal-to-power with a proof of adequate quantity that would last for 25 to 30 years.

He said: “We are getting these things ready. Government is investing a huge amount of resources to make sure that most communities in Nigeria that are not connected to the national grid eventually get connected to the national grid.”

Nebo assured that 75 percent of Nigeria’s population and households would be connected to national grid by 2020.

“That is going to happen. By the grace of God, it will not be long. By 2020, 75% of Nigeria’s population and all households will be connected to the national grid,” Nebo said.

Asked whether the vision of connecting 75% of Nigerians to the

national grid by 2020 is realisable, the minister stated: “What the government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has already put in place is dynamic. By the grace of God, we will be able to achieve that and for those that are not connected to the national grid, we are making efforts to make sure that they have power upgrade that is sufficient for them to regard themselves also as first class Nigerians.”