FG Moves To Give Industrial Clusters 24-Hour Power, Begins With 50MW Project In Abuja
By Victor Idajili
The Federal Government has started moves to provide dedicated 24-hour electricity to industrial clusters nationwide, beginning with a 50-megawatt power project for the Idu Industrial Estate in Abuja.
The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, disclosed this on Friday at the groundbreaking of the project in Abuja.
Enoh said reliable power is critical to cutting production costs, boosting local manufacturing and creating jobs for young Nigerians.
He said the initiative is part of government's industrialization strategy focused on local production, value addition and economic diversification.
"When you produce locally, you contribute to job creation. For our abundant youth, you provide for them a pathway for employment," he said.
The minister said government wants to create a workable model that can be replicated in other industrial hubs, noting that stable power will help factories scale up production and employ more workers.
"Industrial renewal is not a sprint. It is a marathon," he said, calling for cooperation between government, private sector and host communities to protect the infrastructure.
Managing Director of Welbeck Electricity Distribution Limited, Afolabi Aiyela, said the project will initially generate 10MW from a site near the AKK gas pipeline in Zuba.
He said power will be transmitted through a 33kV line to Idu, while the remaining 40MW will be developed inside the estate once the gas pipeline is extended to the area.
According to him, the Idu cluster has a potential demand of 300MW to 400MW.
Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said government is adopting captive and decentralised generation to link power directly to industrial consumers.
Tegbe said technical audits of power infrastructure are ongoing in major industrial corridors, with the Lagos axis, Abuja-Kaduna corridor and Enugu-Onitsha axis as priorities.
He said the Lagos industrial corridor alone accounts for about 40 per cent of national electricity demand, adding that government targets creating or restoring about 180,000 jobs in the axis within six months through improved power supply.
