Esther Abiola – Lagos
Nigeria is planning to supply electricity to Burkina Faso, a West African country, amid cries of acute power deficit by Nigerians.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, operators of Kainji and Jebba Hydro power plants, Mr Lamu Audu, said this at the Annual Power and Utilities Roundtable organised by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Lagos.
Audu decried the level of energy rejection by electricity distribution companies (DisCos), adding that the company was left with no choice than to find reliable buyers for the rejected power generated.
Out of the two 922 megawatts (MW) generated on his network, only 600 to 650MW is taken by the DisCos in Nigeria, he lamented, adding that the development was affecting the establishment’s quest for funds to expand capacity.
“We are left with no option than to sell the balance to other African countries that are willing to pay. In fact, they are willing to take up the whole electricity invoice at a higher price than what Nigerians are willing to pay.
“We are talking to Burkina Faso on this. We are aware that some Nigerian power firms sell electricity to Togo, Benin Republic, among others; we are not the first to do this,” he added.
