The Federal Government is
currently in discussion with
Rosatom Corporation of Russia
towards the construction of four
new nuclear power plants in the
country. Estimates showed the power plants, when completed, would be the biggest in Africa and would cost the Nigerian government
about $20 billion (about N3.98
trillion).
Nigeria Atomic Energy
Commission Chairman/Chief
Executive Officer, Franklin
Osaisai, said in Kenya on Monday
that a joint coordination
committee was already negotiating
for financing and contracting for
the project. “We are meticulously
implementing our plans,”Mr.
Osaisai told Bloomberg News on
the side-lines of a power
conference in Kenya’s Kwale
coastal region. Mr. Osaisai said Nigeria signed an agreement with Rosatom in 2012 to undertake the design, construction, operation and
decommissioning of the first phase
of the plant, expected to become
operational in 2025.
An expansion of the facility to
accommodate another three
nuclear plants would raise its
power generation capacity to
about 4,800 megawatts by 2035.
Rosatom spokesperson, Sergei
Novikov, who spoke with
Bloomberg from Istanbul, said the
company’s officials met in
February with their Nigerian
counterparts to discuss areas of
cooperation within the framework
of a 2009 intergovernmental
agreement on power development
in Africa. Though Mr. Novikov said no formal agreements have been
signed yet with respect to the
construction of the nuclear plants
in Nigeria, he said preliminary
discussions have shown that
Rosatom would hold a controlling
stake in the project.
“The government (Nigerian) will
enter a power-purchasing
agreement for the nuclear plant,”
Mr. Novikov said, adding that
construction of the plants would be financed by Rosatom on a build, own, operate and transfer terms.
Source: Bloomberg news.
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