RE: WE CAN GET 24/7 ELECTRICITY WITHIN THREE (3) MONTHS IN NIGERIA BY PRODUCER OF #ONEMILLIONLETTERS
The attention of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has been drawn to a video tagged, “We Can Get 24/7 Electricity Within 3 Months in Nigeria,“ produced by #ONEMILLIONLETTERS.
The video has been receiving widespread attention understandably due to the desire for reliable power in all parts of our country.
The Ministry welcomes the contribution of the producer of the video and his enthusiasm about recommending a quick solution to a pressing national challenge.
It is true and we agree that General Electric (GE) produces the mobile electricity trucks described in the video just as this type of equipment is indeed produced by other original equipment manufacturers (OEM) like Pratt & Whitney, Siemens and others. The companies indeed manufacture various types of turbines.
It is also true that the mobile electricity truck-mounted turbines require only gas to generate electricity and we agree that gas can be trucked to wherever the equipment is deployed.
But this is where the simplicity of the solution being proposed in the video ends because a number of practical realities would have to be dealt with.
The first is that once the mobile electricity truck turbine is deployed to any area without gas and you have to truck gas there, then it adds to the cost of the electricity produced.
The problem of this “mobile solution” is not different from siting gas turbines power plants where there is insufficient gas and the same constraint applies to locating a solar project or wind turbine farms where the sun or wind respectively is not prolific. The cost of “fuelling” a gas power plant whether the built or mobile type would have to be passed on to the consumers.
Secondly, the video strongly promoting the mobile electricity trucks did not address how the power will get to consumers. This is because turbines are essentially generators but the real difference between personal generators used at home and the big power plants for distribution to states, cities, towns and villages lie in transmitting and distributing the power so generated. So bringing the turbine to a city does not end in itself because the issues of transmission and/or distribution would still have to be dealt with.
Construction of transmission lines and distribution sub stations, where necessary to deliver the power, would require project preparation like survey, right of way, acquisition, payment of compensation and in the process sometimes court disputes arising from attempts to acquire land or right of way for even essential public utilities like power.
There is also the issue of awarding contracts to procure the project. This becomes relevant, especially against the backdrop of a procurement law that stipulates that the project must be advertised for six weeks.
For general information of the public, it is important to state that at the moment, the turbines currently installed in different parts of the country can produce at least 11,000 MW of power. Ironically or unfortunately, there is no sufficient Gas to power all the plants to full capacity. Therefore, plants like Gbarain, Alaoji, Geregu, Egbin, Omotosho and Olorunsogo among others all of which either need Gas or transmission facilities, are running below 50% of their installed capacity.
This and indeed other challenges confronting the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is what the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) is designed to address.
However, with particular reference to the video by #ONEMILLIONLETTERS, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing wishes to state that the Federal Government is already undertaking a Fast Power Initiative similar to what is being proposed, using same Gas turbines by the General Electric (GE). This is a 240 MW initiative using 8 (Eight) of the GE units of 30 MW each. The first programme is to be located in Afam in Port Harcourt, Rivers State where there is already in existence the required Gas and transmission facilities. But contrary to the impression created in the video, this is not a 3 month Exercise.
The only requirement is the construction of the civil works in preparation for installation, which is currently ongoing. All necessary procurement processes (which the video did not reckon with or consciously omitted) like pre-shipment inspection, payment, clearing, and so on have been concluded with respect to the Fast Power Initiative of the Federal Government in collaboration with GE.
The Fast Power Initiative started last year (2016) on the orders of President Muhammad Buhari. Given the fact that such equipment are manufactured on order (they are not kept on the shelf), it is heart warming to note that the GE manufactured turbines for the projects are already in a Nigerian port.




In conclusion, while we thank the producers of the video and Nigerians for the interest shown in what is a commonly challenging subject, we wish to state that the Ministry finds in the video the inspiration to continue to ramp up on the outlined road map of Incremental, Steady and Uninterrupted power supply while ensuring sustainability through the Power Sector Recovery Programme.
Furthermore and most importantly, the Federal Government had since 2013 privatized the Power Sector especially the Distribution and Generation ends with the exception of a few Power Plants under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) which it is still trying to complete. The import of this is that the investing public can now invest in the type of generating equipment being proposed in the video.
Signed:
FMPW&H
