The Federal Government of Nigeria embarked on the robust reform of the electricity power industry as a key strategic driver towards achieving the goal of becoming one of the top twenty economies in the world by the year 2020 (Vision 20:2020).
The Reform, driven by the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act of 2005, provided the platform for deregulating the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry from the control, ownership and regulation of the sector by the Federal government to a private sector-driven industry. The reform basically focused on accomplishing Power stability, reliability & sustainability and human capacity development, amongst others.
At the privatization and unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), wherein eleven (11) distribution companies (DisCos) and six (6) generation companies (GenCos) emerged, the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), which was the training arm of the erstwhile PHCN, evolved as a wholly owned government training Institute under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Power, works and Housing (FMPW&H) in the year 2009 with a mission to train skilled professionals required in the power industry and other related sectors.
In fulfilling this administration’s desire to ensure adequate, reliable and sustainable electricity supply for socio-economic development and nation-building, NAPTIN became poised to providing the needed training to the DisCos, GenCos, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Rural Electrification Agency (REA) amongst others locally. Also, for Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA), West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) amongst others internationally.
NAPTIN also provides training to public and privately owned entities and over the years had trained personnel of reputable firms such as Guinness Nigeria Plc, Sahara Group – Nigeria, NETCO Plc., (a subsidiary of NNPC) amongst others. Notably, NAPTIN, in collaboration with Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA), West African Power Pool (WAPP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has trained personnel of the Volta River Authority – Ghana, Grid Company(Gridco) – Ghana and Liberian Electricity Corporation – Liberia.
Since its establishment, NAPTIN has trained over Fifteen Thousand (15,000) personnel in Power and other related sectors in different specialized courses. NAPTIN also offers courses in other non-technical areas of Marketing, Billing, ICT, Leadership, Management, Energy Management and Audit etc. that relate to the Power value chain. NAPTIN has a good geographical spread enabling it to deliver trainings nation-wide. Training Programmes spanning both technical and non-technical areas are offered in all its eight (8) Regional Training Centers (RTCs) located at Lagos (Ijora and Akangba), Niger (Kainji), Enugu (Oji River), Kaduna, Kano, Plateau (Jos) and Rivers (Afam) states and the Corporate Headquarters, Abuja.
Principally, NAPTIN flagship training courses are as follows:
- NAPTIN Graduate Skills Development programme (NGSDP)
- NAPTIN Technical Skills Acquisition Programme (NTSAP) with Four (4) specialized courses offered for the following job cadre:
- Linesmen
- Electrical Fitters
- Cable Jointers
- Distribution Substation Operators (DSO)
- Solar Photovoltaic Installation and Maintenance Course. The course is categoried into three specialized areas of
- Solar PV Installation (SPVI) Course.
- Solar PV Installation Supervision (SPVIS) Course.
- Solar Hybrid Mini-Grid Design (SHMD)
NAPTIN also partners the following organizations in the provision of power related trainings:
i. National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)
ii. Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)
iii. Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE)
iv. Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC)
v. All states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory
vi. In some instances, NAPTIN acts as the implementing arm for certain training Programmes and capacity building projects of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
Going forward, the management and staff of NAPTIN have a renewed zeal to ensure qualitative training, comparable or even more encompassing to any organization locally or internationally. Our trainings are available to the teeming enthusiastic personnel in the power sector or individuals desirous of specialized skills in the power sector and related fields.We therefore, use this medium to assure NAPTIN trainees, prospective trainees, patrons, sponsors and collaborators/investors, locally and internationally of the delivery of our best services.