By ABAH SUNDAY, Abuja
Nigeria’s Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu has disclosed that the federal government is targeting 6,000 megawatts (MWs) of available power by the end of this year.
Speaking on the journey so far during the opening ceremony of the ongoing 2-day 8th Africa Energy Marketplace (AEMP) forum on Thursday in Abuja, Adelabu expressed the determination of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to overcome the multi-faceted challenge plaguing the sector and lift the country out of energy poverty in the end.
This year’s AEMP, organised by AfDB in conjunction with the Ministry of Power and the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Firm (UKNIAF), was themed: The event was themed: “Towards Nigeria’s Sustainable Energy Future: Policy, Regulation, and Investment – A Policy Dialogue for the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan (NIEP-SIP).
He said, “There are millions of Nigerians living with energy poverty. The last statistics has it that 92 million Nigerians lack access to electricity, and that 58 million that have access, enjoys less than 10 hours of light.
“That is why the first move by Mr President was to liberalise the sector and make it an all-inclusive one by signing the Electricity Act (EA) 2023, the first bill he signed within one month of his assumption of office, thus reflecting the importance he attaches to it.
“And we can now see what is happening: so much interest has developed around the sector, both in the grid power and the renewable energy; investors are coming nationally and internationally; the subnational levels can now have their own power plants, state grid, and even distribution companies.
“We have even started talking about licensing RESCos ( Renewable Energy Supply Companies), just as we have the DisCos (distribution companies) for grid supply.
“Today, we are doing up to 5,000MWs, and we are targeting 6,000MWs before the end of the year. All these are as a result of the enabling legislation,” Adelabu said.
He identified lack of will power on the part of previous administrations to sign the Electricity Act into law, and policy inconsistency over time as largely responsible for the setback suffered by the sector for so long.
On the liquidity crisis which has held down progress in the sector for so long, the Minister explained that government was working to improve the financial and operational capacities of the distribution companies (DisCos) by unbundling their operations along state boundaries, insisting that the areas covered by the current DisCos are too large for them to deliver effective services to consumers.
According to him, President Tinubu had released some funds to Kickstart the payment of the $1.3 billion owed gas suppliers, adding that the N1.3 trillion being owed the power generating companies (GenCos) is also receiving attention.
In his address earlier, Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission NERC) Sanusi Garba stated that most the the electricity Distribution Companies, (DisCos) in Nigeria were technically insolvent and unable to pay for invoices sent to them from the electricity market and invest in network expansion projects, hence their poor performances.
Meanwhile, the Vice President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth Complex, Dr Kevin K. Kariuki, while speaking earlier, disclosed plans by the bank to support the ongoing power sector reforms triggered by the new Electricity Act with US$1billion.
This support fund, according to the bank, would be channelled through a policy-based operation (PBO) with a significant energy component aimed at supporting the ongoing power sector reforms triggered by the new Electricity Act.
Kariuki also assured that that the bank would finance the policy recommendations to actualise the expected outcomes of the NIEP-SIP.
He equally disclosed that the bank would also finance a study for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to explore the deployment of Battery Energy Storage Systems to enhance grid stability and facilitate greater uptake of renewable energy generation.
He said: “At AfDB we put our money where our mouth is, as is manifested in the fact that shortly we will be seeking the board’s approval for a 1 billion US dollar policy-based operation (PBO) with a significant energy component aimed at supporting the ongoing power sector reforms triggered by the new Electricity Act.