The Federal Government says Nigeria’s electricity generation has risen to 4,800 megawatts up from around 3500 in March.
This is as the government accused some “cartels and cabals” as those who did not want the power sector to function because of their selfish business interests.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this on Thursday when he was in Ajah, Lagos State to launch a 63MVA, 132/33kV mobile substation installed under Phase 1 of the Presidential Power Initiative by the FGN Power Company in collaboration with Siemens Energy.
Speaking at the event, Adelabu disclosed that the power generation increased from 4,200MW in the past few days following the operation of the Zungeru hydroelectric power plant.
The PUNCH reports that the Zungeru power plant is a major infrastructure project with the capacity to generate 700MW, making it the second-largest hydroelectric plant in Nigeria, behind the Kainji Dam.
Located in the Kaduna River, near the town of Zungeru in Niger State, the plant is to generate 2.64 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, meeting nearly 10 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic energy needs.
“Let me mention that we have started seeing improvements in our generation output. In the past few days, the output has increased from 4,200MW to 4,800MW. What we experienced in February and some parts of March is not desirable when we had very low generation.
“I just came back from a meeting this morning, where how to make efforts to pay down on our debts to the gencos and the gas companies was discussed.
“We have made significant progress which I believe will encourage generating companies to ramp up their outputs as we are targeting 6,000MW before the end of the year.
“What led to the increase in the past few days was the commencement of the operation of Zungeru hydroelectric power plant that just added 625MW to the national grid,” he said.
Speaking on the cartels preventing power growth, Adelabu asked them to stop being shortsighted, saying there are enough opportunities in the sector.
“I know is that there are cartels and there are cabals in this sector who think their business interest will be negatively affected if we have stable electricity. But they are just being myopic, they’re being shortsighted. There are lots of opportunities available in the sector that will compensate for whatever business loss that they think they are experiencing in their current business. So, it is a win-win.
“I don’t think stabilising the power sector will render anybody jobless or affect the business interest of anybody. It is a matter of you determining where to be because the business moves. The business world is dynamic. A business that is profitable today may not be profitable tomorrow.
“When you see the trend of business moving, you just click into the value chain and it is so huge for everybody such that if local investors are not interested, there are foreign investors interested in this sector,” Adelabu added.
Asked if the cabals are the ones importing generators, he replied: “I did not mention anybody’s name specifically. But whoever knows he belongs to the cartel or cabal should have a rethink and join us in this our transformation journey”.
The ministers maintained that “we are only scratching the surface in this country given the potentials that we have in our human and natural resources,” saying if “we add reliable electricity to it, the sky is our limit.”
He spoke further, “We’ve had over 40 ministers in the past, we are still at this same point. What is that thing that is not allowing us to achieve our plans for the sector? These are the fundamental issues the President Bola Tinubu administration is trying to address. When you are addressing it, of course, there will be resistance.
“There will be frustration because there are some people that do not want this sector to work because of their own personal selfish interest. But we are resolute in this our transformation journey, and we will not be intimidated. We will not be cowed into obscurity.
“Their resistance and abuses are like a tonic to me. The tonic that will incentivise us to do more”.
Earlier, the Managing Director of the FGN, Kenny Anuwe, said the event represented a vital addition to the nation’s infrastructure to enhance transmission wheeling capacity and reinforce the government’s commitment to providing better electricity access for all Nigerians.
“The 63MVA, 132/33kV Mobile Substation plays a critical role in upgrading transmission wheeling capacity and facilitating quick deployment to meet Nigeria’s growing energy demands.
“10 of them were procured and three have been installed while two will be commissioned by next week,” Anuwe said.
He noted that the mobile substations were strategically positioned to enhance the efficiency and reliability of power supply across key economic hubs in the country and would alleviate transmission capacity constraints in the sector by over 1,300MW. Some of the Mobile Substations are being deployed at Ajah, Jebba, Kwanar Dangora, Nike Lake among others.
“The commissioning of the Ajah Mobile Substation marks a significant step within the Nigeria-Siemens Partnership framework aimed at modernising and expanding Nigeria’s power infrastructure. Alongside Ajah, the commissioning of another location, Birnin Kebbi in Kebbi State, occurred simultaneously,” she stressed.
The MD explained these combined efforts will boost transmission wheeling capacity to 123MW, ultimately leading to enhanced electricity provision for households and businesses in both Ajah and Birnin Kebbi. (Punch)
