WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-09-15 Time: 01:00:03 Posted By: News Poster
By Oscarline Onwuemenyi
Abuja – The Federal Government has disclosed plans to convert all the dams originally built for irrigation and water supply purposes across the country for use in electricity generation, in a bid to shore up power capacity.
The Minister of State for Power, Arc. Nuhu Somo Wya, who disclosed this on Wednesday at a Workshop on Energy Efficiency, Labeling and Standards, in Abuja, said power generated from the transformed dams would be used to service communities and cottage industries in the rural areas.
He said, “In our quest to improve our power generation capacity in record time, the Federal government is exploring diverse sources of power including renewable energy.
“Government is also looking at possibility of maximizing usage of the dams originally built for agricultural purposes across the country, with a view to expanding their potentials to include power generation capacity. Some of these dams were built for irrigation, water supply and fisheries, but we now see that they can also provide power, albeit in minimal capacities.”
He said the dams would provide combined capacity of over 200MW of electric power to the communities when the plan fully takes effect.
“Dams like the Oyan River Dam in Ogun State and the Owena Dam in Ondo state have combined capacity of more than 20MW, while the Dadin Kowa Dam in Gombe State alone can give us about 36MW,” he added.
Wya, who was represented by the Director in charge of Electrical Inspectorate in the ministry, Engr. Newton Olapade, noted however that the power generated from such conversion would be used only to boost electricity supply in the communities where such dams are located.
“Power from these dams would ultimately be used to serve the communities and cottage industries in the areas, and only when we have excess would we think about adding to the grid,” he stated.
He further said the Ministry of Power was already in discussion with its counterpart Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources towards making the plan possible.
The Minister has stated that the government is doing everything possible to attain about 25,000 mega watts (MW) of electricity, which is required to meet the country’s ambition of becoming one of the most industrialized nations by the year 2020.
Speaking recently in a keynote address at an interactive workshop organized by the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) in collaboration with the Israeli Electric Training Corporation (IEC), in Abuja, pointed out that power was the bedrock of the economy, and the nation would not advance without an improvement in the state of electricity.
According to him, “The sector has struggled over the years to provide adequate, reliable and affordable power. Currently, Nigeria has an available capacity in excess of 4000MW, which is about 60 percent of our installed capacity.
“However, based on a recently concluded study, our current demand is in the range of 10,000MW,” he added.
Wya noted that the nation’s inability to maximize its human and natural assets was due to a number of reasons including the way these assets are managed.
He noted that, “As part of our national socio-economic aspirations to be among the top 20 economies by the year 2020, Nigeria will require about 25,000MW. To achieve this would require us to effectively manage our assets and resources, and that is what the present administration is committed to doing.
The minister pointed out that the biggest challenge in achieving this important goal was human capacity, adding that, “Over the last one year, we have been implementing an aggressive programme aimed at fostering a comprehensive nation-wide programme of training and skills upgrade to improve the skills of our workers and overall productivity.”
He added that, “The unbundling and reform of the power sector is proceeding smoothly, but not without its challenges. The various power sector enterprises are moving forward with their business planning and new investments for improving their operations and quality of service to their customers.”
According to Wya, only improved skills and productivity of power utility workers and managers will produce direct results including creating a financially viable power sector, improved quality of supply and service and increased economic growth and competiveness.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 9 August 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201008091241.html?viewall=1