The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Power, has targeted the construction of Western and Eastern super grid as solutions to the incessant electricity challenges in the country.
Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, made this known during a facility tour of TBEA Southern Power Transmission and Distribution Industry in Beijing, China at the China-Africa Cooperation Summit.
Adelabu said the existing network on the National grid cannot support the government’s vision for the power sector hence the need for the Western and Eastern super grid, citing that 90 percent of the approval required is in place and will be concluded soon.
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He said: “If we look at the strength, the capacity and the age of our existing network on the National grid, it cannot really support our vision for the power sector hence the need for the construction of the Western and Eastern super grid.
“Though we have been on this since my resumption, I can also tell you that the President is in full support of this because this will improve our transmission network, stabilise the grid and also expand the capacity and the flexibility of the National grid.”
KPMG defines a super grid as not just a “network of networks.” “Put simply, a super grid is a large-scale transmission network that makes it possible to trade high volumes of electricity across great distances.”
The minister also revealed that the Federal Government is concluding plans to release $800 million for the construction of substations and distribution lines under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).
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The money, according to him, will ensure the construction of substations for Lot 2, substations and distribution lines for Lot 3 at $400 million each.
Lot 2 covers Benin, Port Harcourt, and Enugu Distribution Companies (DisCos) franchise areas while Lot 3 covers Abuja, Kaduna, Jos and Kano DisCos franchise areas.
The Minister said on Friday, August 30, generation peaked at 5,170 megawatts, unfortunately, it had to be ramped down by 1,400 megawatts due to the inability of the DisCos to pick the supply. “This is really regrettable considering that government is on course to increase generation to 6,000 megawatts by the end of the year.”
Also speaking during an interactive session with TBEA management, Adelabu also assured of the Federal Government’s commitment towards working with world-class organisations like TBEA to achieve the Renewed Hope vision of President Bola Tinubu for the power sector in Nigeria, especially in areas of transmission and distribution of the entire power sector value chain as well as Nigeria’s renewable energy segment.
Speaking on the problems in the power sector which had hindered industrial growth, the Minister said this was due partly to the fragility of the Transmission and distribution infrastructure which have become old and dilapidated. “This has led to historical epileptic supply of Power to households, industry and businesses.”
According to him, more than 59 percent of industries in the Nigeria are off the grid. “They did not see the national grid as reliable and dependable. So a lot of them now operate their own captive, self-generated power.”
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Adelabu said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is determined to transform the power sector adding that a lot of activities have started that are gradually bringing back confidence in the sector and among the power sector consumers, especially the industries.
Acknowledging the different initiatives of the government, Adelabu went down memory lane that in 1984, about 40 years ago Nigeria was able to generate 2,000 megawatts and it took us over 35 years to add 2,000 megawatts.
“When this administration came in last year, we met around 4 gigawatts (4,000 megawatts) of power but within a year, we were able to generate a milestone of 5,170 megawatts adding about 1000 megawatts of power within the first year. It may look small, but compared to the history of the country, this is commendable.
