Nigeria’s power generation reached a three-year high of 5,313 MW on Monday, according to the Ministry of Power.
This was disclosed in a statement by Mr. Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu.
In response, Adelabu called on Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to increase their energy intake to help prevent a grid collapse.
He said, “When power is produced and not picked by the DisCos, it could lead to grid collapse as frequency drops. Efforts will be made to encourage industries to purchase bulk energy,”
Previous announcement of over 5,000 megawatts of generation
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu had earlier announced in May that power generated and transmitted from the national grid reached 5,345 Megawatts which is marginally higher than the current figure being reported.
This was after power generation fell to 3,500 Megawatts in March with the Minister calling the country’s generation then unacceptable.
He emphasized that the goal is to enhance the power supply across the country to meet the growing energy demand.
Adelabu outlined the government’s strategy to initially prioritize delivering services to customers in higher billing categories, with plans to gradually improve services for all customer segments through focused investments in infrastructure.
Generation target of 6,000 Megawatts
In a separate comment in April this year, the Minister of Power also stated the nation is targeting 6,500 Megawatts of electricity in the next six months. He attributed the low power generation to challenges with the gas supply, noting that from his visits to power generation companies, the capacity to produce 6,000 MW is available.
- On gas, the Minister had earlier planned to ensure gas is sold to power generation companies in Naira other than USD to minimise the impact of the exchange rate on pricing and final electricity tariffs.
- However, experts in the power sector have faulted the drive stating that there is nothing special in generating 6,000 megawatts of electricity daily. In an exclusive interview with Nairametrics, Sam Amadi, the former Chairman of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), emphasized that generating 6,000MW of power will not guarantee a stable power supply in Nigeria.
- Amadi pointed out that the national grid had already reached a generation capacity of 5,000 MW as early as 2016. He further explained that the grid currently produces around 4,000MW, and an additional 2,000MW would have minimal effect on power distribution across the country.
- Recently, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stated that the company now has the capacity to transmit around 6,000 Megawatts of electricity to distribution companies across the country.
