MEDIATRACNET
The Nigerian government, through the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, signed an agreement with Turkish Energy Firm, Energy Exchange Instabul, to boost the country’s electricity generation capacity.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between NBET and EXIST in Maslak, Turkey, to boost cooperation and knowledge exchange between the two countries on electricity generation.
The Nigerian Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, who is also the Chairman of NBET Board of Directors, Zainab Ahmed, witnessed the signing ceremony between NBET CEO, Nnaemeka Ewelukwa and EXIST CEO, Ahmet Türkoğlu.
The Minister said the cooperation agreement would explore mutually beneficial opportunities for growth in capacities between both agencies.
Turkey is reputed to be Europe’s sixth largest electricity market and the 14th largest in the world, possesses electricity generation capacity of 100 Gigawatts (about 100,000 Megawatts) of electricity.
Also, approximately 54 percent of Turkey’s electricity generation capacity comes from renewable energy, including hydroelectric, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power plants, making the country the 5th largest generator of renewable energy in Europe and the 12th largest in the world.
The Minister said Turkey is considered well-advanced in electricity infrastructure and cross-border trading, with massive optimism in new partnership, especially as the Turkish government has shown keen interest in strengthening bilateral relations between both countries.
The CEO of NBET, Ewelukwa, expressed optimism that the cooperation agreement with EXIST would help reposition the bulk electricity trader for enhanced performance in the Nigerian electricity market and consolidate on its accomplishments.
“The key aspects of the cooperation would see NBET strategically leveraging on cutting edge technology to chart a new course in its commercial transactions in the electricity market,” Dr Ewelukwa said.
“It will ultimately pave the way for more power investments in the country and deepen competition in the market, with greater value delivery to participants in the market,” he added
NBET, he said, would also synergise with EXIST in developing a framework for upscaling sustainable investments in renewable energy in line with the federal government’s commitment to diversify the country’s energy mix and transition to a low-carbon economy.
The corporation, he said, also aligns with NBET’s long-term plan of leading Nigeria’s renewable energy push in line with its mandate.
Details of the cooperation agreement cover the transfer of experience and business knowledge, and the design of a functional trading structure for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
Turkey has a large and growing manufacturing base which requires an increasing amount of power generation, says GENCOs with annual growth rate in additional power generation capacity of around 5 percent due to the increasing economic activity and a rising population in Turkey.
With the partnership, Ewelukwa said the Nigerian Electricity Sector Industry (NESI) can leverage on the EXIST experience towards the design and implementation of policy frameworks that would ramp up energy solution to the manufacturing sector and other vital economic sectors towards increasing Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) and improving living condition of its people.
The agreement is also aimed at liberalising the current electricity market in Nigeria, while the cooperation would allow the parties to establish a partnership to support the optimization of NBET’s current energy portfolio and identify sustainable means to scale up energy generation and supply in Nigeria.
On areas of cooperation, the parties agreed to ensure knowledge development and share cross-visits to learn from each other’s experiences.
“Both parties have committed to further research and development in relevant areas that are beneficial for enhancing the energy sector in Nigeria,” Ewelukwa said.
“In addition, EXIST shall also assist NBET in the design and implementation strategy and plan that would enable optimal bulk electricity trading that adopts a least cost trading model for energy efficiency.”
In fulfilling the conditions spelt out in the agreement, he said EXIST shall assist NBET in understudying the Turkish experience and energy transition to adapt successfully to the Nigerian context. NBET currently manages a portfolio of over 13,000 Megawatts of Electricity.
Further to this plan, Ewelukwa said “the two parties will work towards establishing a renewable energy support scheme like the Turkish experience. Furthermore, both parties will work on developing necessary feasibility studies to establish the energy exchange”.
