The Kaduna State Government will soon generate 30 megawatts of electricity through solar energy, according to a statement?quoting Gov. Patrick Yakowa.
The?statement signed ?by the governor's Senior Special Assistant on Media, was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Kaduna.
It said?that Yakowa?had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a German company (Helios Energy) on the solar energy generation in Abuja on Friday.
?The statement said that the MoU was signed under the Nigerian-German Energy Partnership, where the German company was expected to spend about 50 million euros to construct the facility.
The project would be executed under?a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme that would last for 25 years.
?It said that Kaduna State Government would provide about 60 hectares of land needed for the facility, while the German company would train Kaduna State indigenes in Germany on how to operate the facility upon its completion.
?The statement quoted Yakowa as saying that additional 30 megawatts into the state's power supply would boost economic activities.
?According to him, the solar energy project will strengthen his administration’s tripartite focus on security, unity and development.
?It further said that Yakowa expressed delight with the agreement, adding that his administration “will continue to explore more ways of complementing the current source of power supply so that the industrial sector of the state will flourish''.
?On his part, Dr. Jeremy Gaines,?the Coordinator of the Nigerian-German Energy Partnership??said in the statement that the partnership would boost economic activities of Kaduna State and further attract foreign? direct investment.
?The statement said the company would identify suitable site for the facility in October for the immediate take-off of the project.
NAN reports that?Alhaji Ibrahim Njiddah, the ?Senior Special Assistant to the President on Energy, Kaduna State Commissioners for Finance, Justice, Rural, and Community Development witnessed the ceremony.
NAN recalls that? President Goodluck Jonathan had visited Germany recently to sign a bilateral agreement with the German Government?on Solar Energy Generation. (NAN)