Can Nigeria Generate 30% of her Electricity from Coal by 2015

Nigeria is blessed with diverse energy resources. The country had generated electricity from coal in the 1950s, but this was abandoned in the wake of the civil war (1969-1970) and the focus changed to petroleum. Nigeria now generates her electricity mostly from gas thermal plants (64.6%). Electricity in Nigeria is poor, of low quality with frequent unplanned outages. Nigeria has about 8000MW installed electricity generation capacity but only 3800-4000 MW is actually operational. The government now wishes to diversify the electricity generation mix by encouraging private sector participation in the energy sector and targeted 30% electricity generation from coal. The study reviewed policies relating to coal power generation in Nigeria and the causes of previous failures in the sector. The study found that the electricity sector reforms and other policy changes have spurred investment of nearly $10 billion in the coal sector. Five projects of 4800MW generation capacity are under construction. Of this, two projects located in Enugu state of combined capacity of 1600MW could be ready by 2015. These two projects accounted for 40% of total installed capacity, or 20% operational electricity generation in Nigeria. The paper also presents the prospects and challenges of coal power generation in Nigeria.

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