NERC Grants Licence For Construction of 500MW Coal Power Plant

Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi
*Adjourns hearing on electricity service dispute at Lagos 1004 estate

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Wednesday issued a fresh license to a private company, Trombay Power Generation Limited, to build and operate a 500 megawatts (MW) coal power plant in Gombe State.

Expected to be sited at Wajari village along Dadinkowa Road in Yamaltu local government area of Gombe State, the 500MW coal power plant will exploit extant deposits of coal in the Gombe axis of Nigeria’s coal belt.

Recently, the federal government said that Nigeria has about 2.8 billion metric tonnes of coal deposits left untapped and which if tapped, can generate electricity for the country for 30 years.

The government also stated that the use of these coal deposits, amongst other renewable energy sources, to generate electricity for Nigeria could alleviate instances of vandalism of petroleum pipelines which result to frequent cuts in gas supply to thermal power plants in the country.

But in issuing the new licence to Trombay, the Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi stated in Abuja that the application for licence was thoroughly examined to ensure it meets extant standards in terms of bankability and feasibility.

While commendation of the Group President of Trombay, Jitendes Kumar Sachdeva, for withstanding the painstaking process that was required for granting licence for the coal power plant, Amadi said that he expects the promoters to follow through the construction timelines.