The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to increase the country’s electricity supply by an additional 150 megawatts before the end of 2024.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made this disclosure on Wednesday after a business session at the State House during the state visit of the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to President Bola Tinubu.
“So we believe that before the end of the year, an additional 150MW of capacity is going to be added upon completion of the entire pilot phase,” Adelabu said while explaining the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative agreement.
On December 1, 2023, Nigeria and Germany signed the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) agreement to inject 12,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity into Nigeria’s national grid.
The agreement was formalized during a ceremony presided over by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Summit in Dubai, UAE.
Managing Director of the Federal Government of Nigeria Power Company, Kenny Anuwe, and the Managing Director (Africa), Siemens AG, Nadja Haakansson, signed the agreement.
Adelabu, who attended the business session, said, “The game now is about cooperation, collaboration and partnership. The flagship of this bilateral relationship has to do with what we call the Siemens project, which is our Presidential Power Initiative where Siemens is implementing the Brownfield and Greenfield transmission substations of the Presidential Power initiative.
“Since signing the agreement in Dubai at COP 28 in December 2023, we have made significant progress. We have completed the pilot phase of this project, up to 80 per cent.
“This involves the importation, installation and commissioning of 10 power transformers and 10 power mobile substations. They’ve been imported. They’ve been installed, and lots of them have been commissioned. We have just about two left to be commissioned before the end of the year.”
He further said, “The project had added at least 750 megawatts to our transmission grid capacity, which is why the relative stability we are seeing in the grid today is the direct positive impact of the pilot stage completion.”
He made his remarks just after the 12th national grid collapse in 2024.
Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies, continues to experience frequent grid failures due to chronic underinvestment in the power sector, according to the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen.
Adelabu, revealed on October 28 that despite Nigeria’s installed electricity generation capacity of approximately 13,000MW, the national grid transmits only about 4,000MW.
This limitation is attributed to ageing infrastructure, which continues to hinder efficient power delivery across the country.
The 4,000MW transmitted by Nigeria’s power grid is grossly inadequate for a population exceeding 200 million, leaving many areas without reliable electricity.
Additionally, both individuals and government entities face difficulties in paying mounting power bills.
Beyond weak infrastructure, the power grid has also been a target of sabotage. In October, armed groups attacked the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, disrupting electricity supply to 17 northern states.
Repair efforts were delayed as crews could not access the site due to security concerns. Repairs only commenced after President Bola Tinubu instructed the National Security Adviser to collaborate with the Army and Air Force to provide security personnel, including aerial support, to protect the engineers working on the damaged transmission line.
