Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has stated that the country’s electricity generation reached 5,000 Mega Watts in May 2024, marking a significant improvement over previous levels.
Adelabu disclosed this during the second day of the ministerial sectoral update for the present administration which is currently holding in Abuja.
Adelabu said this achievement highlights the government’s commitment to enhancing the nation’s power infrastructure and aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda, aimed at providing reliable and sustainable energy.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the boost in power generation is expected to address issues such as frequent outages and insufficient capacity, stabilizing the grid and reducing reliance on generators.
The Minister had in April stated that the Federal Government had concluded plans to ramp up power generation to a target 6,000 Mega Watts from 4,000 MW by the end of 2024.
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Lamenting the over-dependence on the national grid, Adelabu noted that a different target of 10-12,000 transmission capacity has been set for the next three years.
According to him, the Tinubu led administration is determined to break the 4,000 MW jinx, that has spanned decades prior to his appointment as the 47th minister of power.
Nigerians have witnessed countless national grid collapse in recent years.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had earlier disclosed that Nigeria has witnessed six power grid collapse in the year 2024.
Gas shortage for power generation and the vandalism of power infrastructure are said to be responsible for the recurrent incidents of grid collapse in the country.
Adebayo had a few weeks ago announced that it spent close to ₦700 billion to subsidize electricity in the year that just. As it is today, the Federal Government still subsidizes electricity because the current tariff DISCOs are allowed to charge is not cost-reflective.
The Minister made the remark during his official working visit to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) Head Office in Ibadan as part of his nationwide working visit, beginning in Oyo State, on Monday.