Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant Environmental Impact ... - IFC

1.2.2 Project Context
The Project will help to address Nigeria’s urgent need for the provision of
electricity. At 158 million, the country’s population is the 7 th largest in the
world and accounts for nearly 15 percent of the entire African continent.
Approximately 40 percent of its citizens are less than 15 years old and the total
population is growing at 2.5 percent per annum (one of the highest growth
rates in the world). On the current estimates produced by the United Nations
(UN), Nigeria’s population will reach nearly 230 million within the next 20
years.
At present, the current power generated and transmitted across the national
grid is less than 4,000 MW. By way of comparison, South Africa’s
consumption of grid-based electricity per capita is 35 times greater than
Nigeria’s. It is evident that there is a need to augment the power supplied by
the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). To do this, the Federal
Government intends to stimulate the construction of new power plants and
transmission lines to increase the supply of power. In accordance with the
government strategy, Independent Power Producers (IPP), such as Azura
Power, are being encouraged to invest in the countries power sector.
Given the strong and inescapable link between electricity supply and
economic development, the Project is expected to exert a substantial benefit to
the country’s productive and commercial industries.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE EIA PROCESS
1.3.1 Objectives of the EIA
Azura Power recognizes that comprehensive planning and management of
environmental and socio-economic issues are essential to the execution of any
successful project and, therefore, intends to fully integrate environmental and
socio-economic considerations into the lifecycle of the proposed Project. A
key objective of the EIA is thus to assess the potential impacts of the Project
and Project-related activities on the biophysical and socio-economic resources
and receptors, and where necessary to design mitigation measures to avoid,
mitigate, reduce or compensate for negative impacts and enhance benefits.
Furthermore, this EIA aims to achieve an acceptable level of compliance with
the applicable international standards ie the World Bank, OP 40.1 in
particular, in order to provide the World Bank with assurance that
environmental and social risks are comprehensively understood by Azura
Power and that systems and processes are in place to manage these to an
acceptable level.
In addition, the EIA process focused on the following objectives::
AZURA EDO IPP
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DRAFT EIA REPORT