(Ecofin Agency) - The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki (photo), has announced that his administration is ready to partner with energy giant, Siemens Gas and Power Limited, to develop a project that will allow the State to produce 1,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity over the next four years.

The governor declared this while receiving members of the senior management team of Siemens Gas and Power Limited in his office, in Benin City.

According to him, the government has an objective which is ensuring that the state produces one out of every four megawatts generated in the country.

“We will like to go straight away to begin our partnership and we think our starting point is the human capacity development end. You know the technology and have done it for over 160 years,” he said

For his part, the Managing Director of Siemens Nigeria, Onyeche Tifase, said the duration of the project is two years as there is an urgency to deliver power.

Nigeria’s power generation improved slightly to 3,528.90 megawatts on February 1 from 2,662 megawatts recorded on January 22, 2017. Meanwhile, the Managing Director and CEO of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Oladele Amoda, said Nigeria’s electricity demand is projected to grow from 15, 730 MW in 2016 to 41, 133MW by 2018 and 88, 282MW by 2020.

Anita Fatunji