The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has announced the federal government’s plan to release $800 million for the construction of substations and distribution lines under the Presidential Power Initiative. The funds will be allocated as $400 million each for Lot 2 and Lot 3.
Lot 2 will cover the franchise areas of Benin, Port Harcourt, and Enugu Distribution Companies (DISCOs), while Lot 3 will cover Abuja, Kaduna, Jos, and Kano DISCOs.
Adelabu made this announcement during a visit to the TBEA Southern Power Transmission and Distribution Industry in Beijing, China, where he is attending the China-Africa Cooperation Summit.
“This is truly regrettable, considering that the government is on course to increase generation to 6,000 megawatts by the end of the year,” Adelabu said regarding the reduction of power generation from 5,170 megawatts to 3,770 megawatts due to DISCOs’ inability to absorb the supply.
He assured the federal government’s commitment to working with world-class organizations like TBEA to achieve President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope vision for the power sector.
Adelabu emphasized the need for transformation, noting that the challenges in the sector are partly due to outdated infrastructure. “This has led to the historical epileptic supply of power to households, industries, and businesses,” he said.
He also highlighted that over 59 percent of industries in Nigeria operate off the grid due to the unreliability of the national grid.
Reflecting on past power generation, Adelabu noted, “In 1984, about 40 years ago, Nigeria was able to generate 2,000 megawatts, and it took over 35 years to add an additional 2,000 megawatts.”
