Nigeria's state oil
company plans to move into power generation and transmission, its chief said in
a statement on Wednesday, as the firm tries to resolve the country's
long-standing power problems.
Reuters
report continues:
Despite
regularly taking the top spot among Africa's oil producers, Nigeria's power
generation and electricity grid are plagued by a lack of investment and poor
infrastructure which leaves many people dependent on private generators.
The
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) wants to transform "from an
oil and gas company into an integrated energy outfit with interest in power
generation and transmission," said Maikanti Baru, the firm's group
managing director, according to the statement.
The
NNPC's "decision to diversify into the power sector was hinged on the need
to bridge the huge energy gap in the Nigerian market," Baru said,
according to the statement.
The
statement gave no details of the amount the NNPC plans to invest or any
indication of a timeline.
Nigeria
privatized most of its power sector in 2013 but retained control of the
dilapidated monopoly grid operator, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
If the country's power
plants operated at full tilt, the transmission network could not handle the
load.
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