At the moment, Nigeria, with a population of around 170m, only has an installed power capacity of between 6,000MW and 7,000MW according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria. This is highly inadequate and less than 10% below demand and with 80% of these power plants fired by gas, the government is looking to alternative sources.
Russia’s state-owned company Rosatom, which has been in talks with Nigeria over the nuclear plants, has confirmed two sites have been selected and said they would have a total of four reactors. It is hoped that when functional, the two plants will end the constant blackouts which are a feature of Nigeria's power sector.
South Africa’s electricity capacity is almost seven times greater than that of Nigeria, despite the fact that its population is about a third less. Helplessly overwhelmed by the situation, most Nigerians have resorted to the use of private generators, making the country the largest importer of small and medium sized generators in the world.
Franklin Erepamo Osaisai, the chief executive of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, said the country has no experience in developing and operating nuclear plants but has small reactors producing around 30KW for research. One nuclear power plant costs between $5bn and $8bn according to Rosatom and Nigeria has not yet said how it plans to fund the construction.
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