The Federal Government has approved the issuing of two power-generating licences totaling 723 megawatts.
The Punch reported that when the power projects were finished, the country’s electrical output would increase by more than 700MW.
After the successor electricity generating and distribution arms of the industry were unbundled and privatized in November 2013, power sector operators had been working with the Federal Government to increase Nigeria’s power generation and supply.
Since then, Nigeria’s power output has fluctuated between 3,500MW and 5,000MW, a level that operators and analysts deemed insufficient for a country with a population of more than 200 million.
According to information acquired from the Federal Ministry of Power on Friday, for instance, power generation on the national grid at six o’clock in the morning was 3,992.4MW, down from the peak of 4,017.6MW observed on Thursday.
The NERC has been providing licenses to investors to create electricity, while the government and investors have been building power plants to increase the country of Nigeria’s supply of electricity.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu carried out the Presidential groundbreaking for the construction of a 350MW power plant in Abuja, the first phase of the Gwagwalada Integrated Power Project.
In addition, the NERC indicated in its most recent first quarter report for 2023, which was received in Abuja on Friday, that it had authorized the issuing of certain securities as part of efforts to increase power generation licenses with a combined capacity of 723MW.
The NERC said that the “commission approved the issuance of two new generation licenses with a combined capacity of 723MW in 2023/Q1” under the licensing and permits section.
Additionally, it permitted the modification of an existing Independent electricity distribution license as well as the issue of two new Independent Electricity Distribution Network licenses.
“Five licenses for captive power generation, as well as five licenses and four registrations for mini-grids, were issued. Six Metre Service Providers were also certified by the commission during the period under consideration.
The commission granted power generation licenses to 21 investors in 2022, while 114 registrations and licenses were given for the construction of mini-grids to increase the nation’s overall supply of electricity.
“The commission authorized the issuance of two new generation licenses in 2022/Q4 with a combined capacity of 56.50MW and authorized the amendment of two on-grid embedded generation licenses.
