Nigeria is to receive a loan of N33 billion from the European Union to develop the power sector.
This development was confirmed on Thursday, June 25, 2015 in a statement issued in Abuja by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The statement disclosed that the loan was granted when a three-man delegation from the European Union led by Mr. Peter Cameron, met with the NERC Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi.
Mr. Cameron, stated that they were in the country to assess possible areas the EU could be of help in solving the country’s power challenge.
Others members of the delegation were identified as Gerrit Clarke and Daud Carew.
According to the statement, the NERC requested for details of the grant in order for it to be studied and they could arrive at a well informed position on how best the offer could be accessed and optimally utilised.
The Commission’s Chairman, told the delegation that the loan would ensure that the challenges facing the power sector are nearly eradicated.
He said, “Three major areas of possible intervention are bridging the huge metering gap; transmission bottlenecks; and the need for embedded generation to improve shortage in power supply.”
He elaborated on the term embedded generation, stating that it entails consumption of power generated from a plant within a distribution network without passing it through the transmission network.
“It is a vicious circle; they (electricity firms) cannot get funds if they cannot deliver quality service and the customer will not be willing to pay without quality service.
