Buhari approves funding for 25,000MW Siemens power project

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of funding to begin the first part of the Phase 1 of the Siemens Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).

A statement by the Presidency on its Twitter handle indicated that the funding will be to kickoff the pre-engineering and concession financing work streams.

The President also directed that the federal government engage the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to assist in developing the commercial structure of the intervention, and that it should execute an independent valuation of the Distribution Companies (DisCos).

Buhari also ordered that Siemens AG shall be solely responsible for nominating its Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partners for the project, without the involvement of middlemen.

He clarified: “Our goal is simply to deliver electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes… Our intention is to ensure that our cooperation is structured under a Government-to-Government framework. No middlemen will be involved, so that we can achieve value for money for Nigerians.”

It would be recalled that the PPI was mulled on August 31, 2018, when Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Nigeria and met with President Buhari, along with the Global CEO of Siemens.

Nigeria and Germany then agreed to explore cooperation in some areas, including Power. The PPI has the goal modernizing and increasing the national electricity grid capacity from about 5,000MW currently to 25000MW over three phases.

The PPI also has four objectives which include delivering improved power supply nationwide, providing training and capacity building for Nigerian youths, creating economic opportunities for Nigerian engineering companies, and stimulating inflow of additional investment into the power sector.