In the past year, Siemens Energy has signed at least three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to accelerate energy projects in Nigeria.
The most recent MoU was signed with PANA Infrastructure to modernise and upgrade Nigeria’s electric power infrastructure by providing grid automation and smart infrastructure solutions across Nigeria. The agreement between Siemens and PANA focuses on enhancing grid reliability and stability and deepening electrification rates to meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity in Nigeria.
On May 29, 2024, Geregu Power signed an MoU with Siemens Energy to upgrade the Geregu 1 Power Plant from its current capacity of 435MW to 500MW. This project also targets the creation of Geregu 3 by generating an additional 500MW, including establishing combined cycle operations that will generate 200MW, leading to a total of 1200MW.
The MoUs between Siemens Energy and the entities include:
- PANA Infrastructure
- Geregu Power Plc
- Presidential Power Initiative (The Siemens Contracts)
About the Siemens Contracts
In 2018, during President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the Nigerian government signed a deal with the German government for the presidential power initiative. The German government employed Siemens Energy to deliver the project through the 2.3 billion it agreed to lend Nigeria.
According to the minister for power, Adebayo Adelabu, the project’s implementation phase saw several years of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2.3 billion project, however, came to the limelight in 2024 after Tinubu renewed the deal with the German government and Siemens Energy.
This renewal came after President Tinubu promised to continue the Siemens electrification deal after he assumed office in 2023. In April, when the electricity transformers and substations meant for the $2.3bn Siemens power project arrived in the country, Adelabu stated, “In November 2023, during the visit of the German Chancellor to Nigeria, one of the issues discussed was the need to continue with the project.
“Recently, there was an African Business Summit in Germany, which the President attended, and I was privileged to accompany him to the summit. During the summit, we had extensive conversations with our German counterparts regarding a project, and we were both convinced that it would benefit both countries to proceed with an MOU. We agreed to sign an acceleration agreement to kick-start the project again.
“In December 2023, at COP 28 in Dubai, an affiliation agreement was signed between the federal government, the German government, Siemens Energy, and FGN Power Company Limited. Following this, we commenced the project analysis, and I am pleased to inform you that we are almost through with the project’s pilot phase.”
The deal between Siemens Energy and Nigeria initially involved increasing the country’s grid capacity from below 5,000 MW to 7,000 MW by 2021, further expanding it to 11,000 MW by 2023, and ultimately achieving 25,000 MW by 2025.