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The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has stated that about 60 per cent of Nigerians or 80 million of the country’s population are not connected to the national grid, thus lacking access to electricity.
Speaking yesterday in Lagos when GE Power & Water unveiled its distributed power solutions for Africa, Nebo stated that those who lack access to electricity in Nigeria do not constitute just 50 per cent of the population as erroneously believed.
“The question now is how do we quickly reach these communities, these homes, schools, hospitals, markets, and farms? There’s not faster way to bring electricity to these communities, scattered all over the country, by extension the African continent, other than through distributed power.
Nebo further stated that he was impressed with GE’s involvement in the search for solutions to Nigeria’s power challenges.
The minister noted that one critical thing about distributed power is its ability to cater for specific needs where it is needed most.
According to him, he was excited because of GE partnership with the government of Nigeria in providing affordable power solutions to the people.
“I am more elated because GE chose Nigeria as the springboard for its distributed power generation to power Africa communities. I congratulate GE for not only bringing it in big parcels like as much as 100 megawatts, but of also bringing in smaller packages for as low as 10 kilowatts. This is the fastest way to get power generation for Africa,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, the President and Chief Executive Officer of GE’s Distributed Power, Lorraine Bolsinger, said GE formally introduced its new distributed power business for Africa to build on the company’s corporate commitment to help address the continent’s need for more reliable, local energy supplies that could promote greater economic development and security in urban and rural areas.
She said the Distributed Power business focused on power generation at or near the point of use, on or off the grid.
“In areas of Africa where traditional grid service is poor or does not exist, we are seeing more customers seeking to install distributed power technologies that can help ensure that homes and businesses have more reliable supplies of electricity.
"GE’s Distributed Power is committed to helping customers throughout Africa use more of their own domestic energy resources, which in turn enhances the economic security of the region for future generations,” she said.
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