Enugu State Government says it will enact a State Electricity Law Post Electricity Act 2023, as part of plans to transition from an energy State to a commercially viable electricity market, generating over 690 megawatts of electricity and at least 20-hour per day power supply by 2030.
The government also said the urgency of the State in enacting the Enugu State Electricity Law to take immediate advantage of the 2023 constitution amendment and the Electricity Act 2023 to set up a viable Enugu electricity market and reliable energy supply is in tandem with its economic growth plan to make Enugu State a leading industrial hub.
These were made known by the Governor of Enugu, Peter Mbah, during a Roundtable themed “The Electricity Act 2023” Implications and Opportunities for State Electricity Market” organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF) for State governments and critical stakeholders in Abuja the nation’s capital.
The Governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Chidiebere Onyia, said the State is creating an enabling environment for energy players and investors to come in and help grow the state’s GDP from the present $4.4 billion to $30 billion.
“As a government, we have set out an ambitious economic growth plan and integral to that plan is the electricity needs of Enugu State and the investors that will be coming into Enugu State.”
“So, keeping that in mind, what we have gone ahead to do is to set out the processes right after the constitutional amendment. We are creating our own Enugu State electricity market. Our key objective for doing this is to ensure the reliability of power that will serve as a catalyst for that growth by making the private sector actors feel comfortable to come to Enugu State.”
“Enugu State’s plan is to be one of the first three investors’ focus and locations in Nigeria, and to do that we have to make sure that we have constant or reliable power as well as encourage a market where investors feel that the power arrangement is governed by a process that is both constitutional and backed by the right policy. That is the reason we decided as a government for Enugu State to be one of the leading states in setting up an electricity market,” he said.
Speaking on the areas of renewable energy, Mr. Onyia explained that the transition to a significant portion of the State’s electricity sector would be renewable and also traditional power sources.
“And you have to understand also that there’s technology now for Clean Coal. And you have to understand also that there’s technology now for Clean Coal. We also have a huge gas supply, gas supply or gas availability in our State”
So we also looking at some of our projects to be all solar powered”.
According to him, the State is also working closely with international partners to be able to design a climate action plan and a climate policy.
That process has started right now.
“And in doing that, you will understand also that you’ll be mindful of your different energy sources and be intentional about how you blend them”
“So we’re very mindful of that we’re going to use our resources so you do also remember that is a just transition process”
“And people will have to use your resources to be able to build the economic development plan so we’re very mindful of that. And we’re not just going from school into politics”
“We’re going to make sure that we are able to reduce our carbon footprint or we need to start with the Climate Action Plan, the climate policy, and then we can move into all the things that can enhance our climate credentials” he added.
Also, speaking on the Enugu State experience in a panel discussion on “Closing the Energy Access Gap through Sub-national Electricity Markets: Doing Things Differently”, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Mbah on Policy and Project Management, Louisa Chinedu-Okeke, explained that the State currently had no operating grid-connected generation assets and only one electricity distribution company with just 9 percent electricity allocation from the national grid for over five million people.
She, however, said the Mbah administration had laid out a viable plan to transit the state to a commercially viable electricity market that generates over 690 megawatts of electricity and at least a 20-hour power supply by 2030.