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  • Niger, Burkina Faso crises may stall $700m WAPP project

    Niger, Burkina Faso crises may stall $700m WAPP project

    The Secretary-General West African Power Pool (WAPP), Siengui Apollinaire Ki, at the weekend said the political crises and insecurity in Niger and Burkina Faso will stall the completion of the core North project in 2024.

    He broke the news at the 7th meeting of the Joint Supervision Committee (JSC) of the WAPP Core North Project in Abuja.

    According to him, the project’s completion is aimed at 2025 and would provide electricity from Nigeria to other landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Benin Republic and other West African countries.

    Ki said the project, which will cost close to $7million, has the potential to provide energy generation companies in Nigeria new market to expand their operations.

    Read Also: Terrorists kill 100 in Burkina Faso attack

    The Secretary-General also noted that the project is funded by donors like the World Bank (the main funder of the project), African Development Bank, the European Union and Nigeria, with the World Bank providing 60 per cent funding.

    His words: “When we started this project, we were thinking of two years to conclude the project but you know that the region has been confronted with security issues. There were wars in countries like Burkina Faso and Niger.

    “This is a big challenge for us. We have to put in place strategies to be able to continue the project but this came with delay. So the project was delayed. Surely, we will not be able to conclude it in two years but we hope to make it in three years. That’s, rather than concluding it in 2024, we will be able to finish it in 2025.”

    Earlier, the Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Dr Sule Ahmed Abdullaziz, said the government of the countries joined forces to design the regional interconnection initiative,

    encompassing the construction of 880 km of 330 kV and 33 km of 225 kV high voltage transmission lines.

    “Beyond the transmission lines, the project sets out to construct or extend five substations and deploy cutting-edge technologies like SCADA systems and fibre optic cables along the lines.”

    He added that the project isn’t merely about transmitting electricity but creating a dynamic, interconnected network that will redefine energy landscape.

    “It aims to catalyze efficient energy trade, encourage commercial exchange agreements, and bring electricity access to communities along the transmission line. Envisioned as a transformative force, this project is the lifeline that will interconnect the destinies of our respective countries. The importance of this initiative transcends borders, echoing the spirit of unity within the ECOWAS region.”

    “Now, why is this project crucial? It stands at the forefront of a multifaceted effort to break the shackles of energy poverty and elevate the living standards of our communities. Beyond being a paradigm shift in how we approach power generation and distribution, it is a lifeline for those living in areas with limited or no electricity access.”

  • NAPTIN, WAPP strengthen sub-regional integration

    To achieve sub-regional collaboration in the power sector, the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) and the West African Power Pool (WAPP) are partnering to train personnel of the Liberia Electricity Company (LEC) on power supply value chain – generation, distribution and transmission.

    Eighty workers from the Liberia Electricity Company have commenced the training, which will last for four weeks and sponsored by the West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).  It aims at promoting integration among countries in the West African sub-region through experience sharing.

    NAPTIN Acting Director-General, Mr. Ahmed Nagode, said WAPP and NAPTIN came together to help grow and improve the technical skills of LEC personnel, adding that the trainees would in turn use the knowledge acquired to resolve their nation’s power problems.

    Nagode said: “Leveraging on the strength of one another through proper synergy has proven to be a catalyst for growth and development. World-class companies and institutions have at one time or the other sought partnership with each other to grow.

    “WAPP has worked for many years with training providers to establish programmes that put in place the necessary instruments for the skilled manpower needed in the power utilities of its member countries.”

    Nagode said the trainees would run courses at NAPTIN’s Lagos office and Kainji Dam in Niger State. According to him, the objective of the training is to improve their capacity on electricity generation, customers care, basic power system protections, distribution and transmission networks.

    “The training will also increase their capacity in effective power supply and revenue collection. The second WAPP programme training for LEC staff was funded by AfDB with about 130,000 dollars. It was focused on value creation, practical examples and various approaches and potential,’’ Nagode said.

    He added that the courses  include power distribution, maintenance and repairs, power transmission network and substations operation and maintenance. Other courses include commercial operations (metering, sales invoicing, customer relations and accounting).

    Nagode commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration on its power sector recovery plan, which sought to ensure incremental and uninterrupted power in Nigeria.

  • Electricity more expensive in West Africa -WAPP

    The Chairman of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed, said on Tuesday that electricity is more expensive in West Africa.

    He said WAPP would on June 29 launch the Regional Electricity Market (REM) to facilitate more energy trade.

    Mohammed, who doubles as the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), spoke at the Nigerian power stakeholders’ sensitization workshop at the company’s headquarters in Abuja.

    According to him, energy trade is key to regional integration with West Africa taking the lead through WAPP.

    The WAPP chairman also announced plans to construct a transmission line from Shiroro hydropower station in Niger State to Ivory Coast, describing it as one of the biggest lines in West Africa.

     

  • West Africa needs $26b for regional electricity interconnectivity

    West Africa needs $26b for regional electricity interconnectivity

    The West African sub-region requires $26 billion to undertake its electricity inter-connectivity.

    The Secretary-General of the West African Power Pool, Amadou Diallo, made this disclosure yesterday in Abuja at the Seventh session of the general assembly of West African Power Pool (WAPP).

    The sub-regional electricity inter-connectivity programme is moving steadily with many countries in West Africa to have a common electricity platform and selling power to one another, he said.

    Diallo stated that many countries in the sub-region have embarked on power reform programmes cutting across the sub-region. He listed Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali and Mauritania as examples.

    The sub-regional power reform programmes, he noted, are now concentrated on regulatory, generation and transmission issues and are at different stages of completion among the countries.

    Diallo identified the challenges confronting the sub-regional electricity inter-connectivity initiate ive to be that of tariff, which he said, “is too high for the people but too low for the countries.”

    Earlier, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria and host of the session, Olushole Akinniranye, listed the construction of the Ikeja West 330KVA line that would supply power to Cotonou, and the on-going power stations for Togo, Benin and Ghana, as some of the achievements of the regional entity.

    He listed lack of funds to execute the projects as one of the challenges facing the WAPP, but noted that other challenges were being surmountable as the pool will continue to look for more funds to execute its projects.

    Both Diallo and Akinniranye said it was impossible for Nigeria to give out power much more than she needed, stressing that “we don’t supply more than we use to other West African countries,” they added.

  • West Africa needs N4tr to fix power challenges

    The Secretary General of West African Power Pool (WAPP), Mr. Amadou Diallo said on Monday that the sub region needed $26 billion dollars (about N4, 16t) to fix its power challenges.

    Diallo made the disclosure during an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the organisation began the 7th session of its General Assembly in the Federal Capita Territory (FCT) on Monday.

    Diallo said: “The Sub Region is putting an inter-connectivity system in place to put all ECOWAS member states together through electrical network.

    “.. Now we have Nigeria, Benin Togo, Ghana, Bourkina Faso, Cote de Voire, Niger, Mali, Senegal and Mauritania interconnected through the integration Region.

    “Soon WAPP will start to implement interconnection between Cote de Voire , Liberia, Senegal, and Nigeria in 225 KV Transmission Lines with 12 Sub Stations.”

    The Secretary General said that “with this plan, wherever there is excess power, any country that needs it can buy it and pass it through the transmission system.’’

    Diallo explained that if the $26 billon dollars was injected into the power industry of West African countries, many of the power challenges in the region would be history.