Amid unreliable supply and power capacity hovering around 4,000MW with over 200 million population, Nigeria has made plans to reach a power capacity of 8,000MW within the next 18 months.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, at the closing ceremony of the Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja, said that they possessed gas supply agreements with the plants, enabling them to enhance their operational capacity to a minimum of 50 percent, anticipated to contribute a minimum of 2,500MW to the country.
He emphasised that challenges exist in power generation, transmission, and distribution, and highlighted recent progress, such as the commissioning and conclusion of concessioning for the 700-megawatt Zungeru Hydropower project, expected to boost the power pool significantly, with production set to commence within the next two weeks.
He also mentioned the completion of the Kashimbila Dam Power Plant, contributing 40MW to the power capacity, pointing out that 10MW were already being utilised in the Taraba area, and that there was a surplus of 30 megawatts awaiting full integration into the national grid.
He expressed confidence that enhancing the evacuation infrastructure would facilitate the seamless inclusion of the additional 30MW, ultimately improving the overall power supply.
Adelabu mentioned the existence of 26 small hydro plants across the country, which have remained abandoned for years, and revealed plans to revitalise them within a timeframe of 12 to 18 months to contribute significantly to the national grid, thereby increasing the overall power supply.
“We are revisiting the abandoned 15 solar IPPs to ensure that in the northern parts of the country, we can have small clusters of IPP solar plants to generate at the minimum 50 MW in each location across 15 states, which is about 750 MW.
“In all, we have a total of almost over 13,000 MW capacity installed for power plants, both the hydro and the gas power plants. So, once all those hiccups are resolved, we can double electricity supply in Nigeria within a period of 12 to 18 months. And this will perform wonders in increasing supply to the doorsteps of households, businesses, cottage industries, artisans, and industries,” he said.
On the recent incidents of grid collapse in the country, the minister attributed the occurrences to acts of sabotage, intentional damage of power lines and transformers and theft emphasised the need for Distribution Companies (DisCos) to secure capital, stressing the importance of attracting funds and making investments in the sector.
