Embedded power project to begin July — Commissioner

The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said the much-awaited Lagos embedded power project would commence in July.

The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr Olawale Oluwo, disclosed this in Alausa at the Ministerial briefing to commemorate Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode’s third year in office.

He said that the objective of the power programme was to generate 3,000 megawatts for the state in the next three to five years.

Oluwo said that the power and gas sector reforms were key interventions of the current administration to correct the structural challenges in the power sector and gradually position the state for 24-hour power supply.

He said that apart from the reforms in the power sector, the state government had commenced the implementation of other sectoral reforms, including the downstream petroleum sector, the gas sector, the solid minerals sector and regulatory reforms.

“The essence of all this is that we want to give Lagos State energy and security, and to achieve this, you must have security in electricity, gas and petroleum products,’’ he said.

The commissioner said that when the reforms are fully implemented in the next three to five years, the state’s reliance on gas from the Niger Delta region would be less critical to the state’s economy.

He said seven agencies would be driving the reform in the gas sector, as plans had been concluded for the reticulation of gas to homes starting from Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Ikeja GRA.

According to him, when the use of gas and LPG, become widespread, the use of firewood, kerosene and charcoal in households will be banned.

Oluwo said that a legislation to make it compulsory for houses in the state to have fire extinguishers was already in the pipeline.

He also confirmed that silica sand, kaolin and clay were available in significant quantities in the state and that it was also prospecting for coal and bitumen.