The Federal Government has announced that electricity generation has risen to 4,800 megawatts up from around 3500 in March.
However, the government accused some “cartels and cabals” of sabotaging the efforts of the government in the power sector out of selfish business motives.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu on Thursday in Ajah, Lagos State during the launch of 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, according to The Punch
Commenting, Adelabu said that since the Zungeru hydro plant started operating, electricity generation has risen from 4,200 megawatts in recent days.
He said “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 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.”
In addition, Adelabu urged the cartels to stop being shortsighted, saying that the power sector offers ample opportunities.
“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 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.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the FGN, Kenny Anuwe, said the event highlighted a crucial 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.
Anuwe said “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.
“The commissioning of the Ajah Mobile Substation marks a significant step within the Nigeria-Siemens Partnership framework aimed at modernizing and expanding Nigeria’s power infrastructure. Alongside Ajah, the commissioning of another location, Birnin Kebbi in Kebbi State, occurred simultaneously.”
Nigeria has struggled with power generation for decades.
Recently, it was reported that there was a power outage at the National Assembly while the Power Minister was addressing the legislatures.
