By Musa Adamu
Abuja
Minister of Power, ProfessorChinedu Nebo, said with the abundance of coal and other renewables including, biomass, solar, wind, small and medium hydros, Nigeria had the insurance to deal with the monster called vandalism.
He informed that Nigeria has about 2.8 billion untapped metric tonnes of coal deposits for years now, pointing out 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.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Atlas Petroleum Corporation in Abuja, the minister said Nigeria needed to harness all its potentials to build a robust energy mix, saying this would render ineffective any incident of vandalism on its electricity supply.
“The coming into coal to power by Atlas Petroleum is a welcome development, as history is about to be made today. While others are doing the talking, Atlas will do the action. Atlas Petroleum is determined to put the required fund to the development of this dream. Atlas will be the first to deliver more megawatts from coal,” he said.
He promised to help fast track other licences with various agencies, beginning with the ministry of mines.
“We will also assist with the design of appropriate mining, as we must ensure everything works. The coal fired plant should start next year.”
The minister said that the event was historic as the vast potentials of coal, put at 2.8 billion metric tonnes of deposits, had for years remained untapped.
He called on other genuine investors to cash-in into the new focus of coal to energy, saying that such moves can only complement what government was doing.
The promoter of the venture and chairman of Atlas Petroleum, Chief Arthur Eze, after the signing of the document, assured of the company’s competence to deliver.
“We have the ability and wherewithal to deliver.We will move fast to invest in coal to power,” he said.