Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, over the weekend, disclosed of the federal government’s plans to develop a super grid project that will enable a more robust and resilient grid system in Nigeria.
Chief Adelabu, who stated this while speaking at the Jericho Business Club in Ibadan on powering Oyo state for industrial and economic development, said this was part of the present administration’s long term strategies in the power sector.
The Minister noted that federal government “is working actively to ensure rapid development of infrastructure in the sector to ensure electricity becomes accessible to all Nigerians.”
“For that , the federal government have initiated two programs, the Presidential Power Initiative which has operationalisation of additional 600MW wheeling capacity in the last one year and the Presidential Metering Initiative which aims to supply 2 million meters by the end of this year to reduce the estimated billing practices in the sector.
“For our long-term strategies, we are finalizing plans to develop a super grid project that will enable a more robust and resilient grid system. We will also work alongside the subnational government as they develop their embedded power generation portfolio based on a least cost approach to reduce their dependence on the central grid.
“Our journey to achieving a sustainable and viable Nigeria power sector has been hampered with multiple challenges which has set us back on some of the successes recorded, however, we remain optimistic about the promise and the potential the sector holds to drive socioeconomic development in the country, and we believe we shall overcome these challenges through active participation of all stakeholders,” he said.
The Minister stressed that over the past year, the Federal Government of Nigeria has implemented a multi-pronged approach spanning across legislation, policy, national infrastructure development programs, leveraging bilateral funding to derisk investment, sector commercialization, and strategic partnership with the investment community and development partners to address bottlenecks across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry value chain, setting the sector on a path toward bankability and long-term sustainability.
“One of our biggest achievements this past year was the enactment of the 2023 Electricity Act, signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. An unprecedented groundbreaking legislation that represents a major shift in how we regulate and manage electricity in Nigeria. For the first time, state governments have been brought into the fold, empowering them to establish and manage their own electricity markets”.
Chief Adelabu said, “Already, 10 State Electricity Markets including our own Oyo State have been advanced in the process of developing our state electricity market, enabling us to create a more decentralized, responsive, and competitive electricity supply industry”, adding, “This decentralisation is key to fostering innovation, driving investment, and delivering greater energy security for our state.”
