Nigeria is on course to generating 30 megawatts of electricity from coal next year, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has announced.

The ministry made the announcement in a document released by the Minister of State in the ministry, Alhaji Abubakar Bwari, given to reporters in Abuja on Sunday.

Bwari said that the power would be generated because Nigeria had more than 2.7 billion tonnes of coal deposits.

“Nigeria’s coal reserves are estimated at over 2.7 billion tonnes out of which about 650 million tonnes are proven.”

He said that available data suggested that there was coal deposits on more than 22 coal fields in 16 states of the federation.

According to him, a project delivery team has been inaugurated for the concession of the remaining five coal blocks of the Nigerian Coal Corporation, adding that this will be done through a competitive bidding process.

On the Ease of Doing Business in the mining sector, Bwari said that the ministry had taken appropriate steps to improve Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank Ease-of-Doing-Business Index.

“In line with the Federal Government’s focus on making it easier to do business in the sector, we have continued to address issues towards achieving a decent ranking in the Fraser’s Investment Attractiveness Index,” said Bwari. (NAN)