LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Federal Government on Friday announced that Nigeria will generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity by the end of this year.
Currently, the country’s power generation fluctuates between 4,000 and 4,500MW for its approximately 200 million people. On Friday, power generation was recorded at 4,553.82MW as of 6 am.
During a ministerial address in Abuja on Friday, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu highlighted the ministry’s accomplishments since President Bola Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023.
He said for the first time in three years, on May 3, 2024, Nigeria’s power generation reached 5,000MW.
Adelabu affirmed that, based on recent improvements, power generation would reach 6,000MW by the end of the year.
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“On generation capacity, let me say that 5,000MW of power was achieved in May 2024 for the first time in three years. Precisely on May 3, 2024, we generated, transmitted and distributed 5,003.45MW of power.
“We all know where we were before now. But we rose to the occasion and changed the situation for the better, and our target is to achieve 6,000MW before the end of this year, which will be the first time in the history of Nigeria, and it will happen,” the minister stated.
He noted that a series of infrastructural upgrades over the past year have significantly improved Nigeria’s power assets, attributing much of this progress to the ongoing Presidential Power Initiative.
“In November 2023, President Tinubu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz witnessed the signing of an accelerated performance agreement aimed at expediting the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative to improve electricity supply in Nigeria.
“The implementation of the pilot phase has resulted in infrastructure improvement which includes additional grid evacuation capacity by 2,230MW and an additional 183MW to be commissioned by the end of June 2024, Adelabu stated.
He stated that the government is currently finalizing contracts for Phase 1 of the Presidential Power Initiative.
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“There is also the rehabilitation of 15 brownfield substations with an expected contract date of August 2024. There is the construction of 22 green field substations with an expected contract date of October 2024,” he said.
Regarding metering, Adelabu explained that the presidential metering initiative aims to supply two million meters annually for the next five years, enhancing the sector’s liquidity and reducing reliance on estimated billing.