FG Accessing $2.3bn To Boost Transmission Infrastructure – Adelabu

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has announced that the pilot phase of the Siemens Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) has reached 90 per cent completion. This milestone marks significant progress in the government’s efforts to stabilise the national power grid and enhance electricity supply across the country.

Adelabu, who announced this on Sunday, said that the Nigerian government is securing about $2.3 billion to revamp the transmission segments of the nation’s power sector.

The pilot phase involves the installation of 10 power transformers and 10 mobile substations, which have already added 700 megawatts to the transmission grid capacity.

Adelabu disclosed this on Sunday in a statement. According to him there has been a lot of improvement since the power sector since the inception of the President Tinubu-led administration. He noted in particular, the investment in the non-grid supply to the rural and semi urban parts of the country.

Adelabu noted improvement in several areas in the power sector, including the energy access expansion, improved transmission, adding that the revolution that is ongoing in the sector was as result of the bold step of President Tinubu, when he signed the Electricity Act of 2023.

He said, “We have seen some reasonable improvements since this new administration came in. In three basic areas. Number one, in the area of energy access expansion. We have extended the grid to so many areas where there were no grid extensions. And we have also exploited renewable energy in our rural areas and semi-urban areas that were either underserved or unserved.

Renewable energy in terms of solar energy, most especially, and we have small dams which we are using for hydro power supply. So we have achieved some level of energy expansion in terms of new generation.

“The second intervention with regard to the transmission is the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), and you will recognise it better when I say Siemens Project. So we are actually securing the finance of close to 2.3 billion dollars to ensure that we revamp or transform our transmission segments. And the government of Germany has been very instrumental to ensure this works. The Siemens is handling lots of the critical transmission projects there,” he said.

The Nigerian government, according to him is also engaging some Chinese firms to develop distribution projects. He said that the pilot phase of the Siemens project which involved importation, installation, commissioning, and energisation of 10 power transformers across the country and another set of 10 mobile substations are almost completed.

“We have installed almost 90 per cent of this and they are working. And that has improved transmission capacity by over 700 megawatts, which is the result of what we are seeing now in terms of relative stability in the transmission grid.

“Before now, at the time the supply to the grid enters 5,000, the grid is unstable it shakes, collapses and all that. Now, we are having an average of 5,000, 7,000, 8,000 megawatts. So it’s not by accident. It’s because of these activities of the government. And this administration has recorded two major milestones in the power sector ever in Nigeria.

”Number one, the highest average daily power consumption. Over 20,000 kilowatt hour it was achieved, which has never been achieved before. We have also achieved transmitted and distributed highest energy in the volume of 5,801.63, which has broken the previous record, achieved 2021. And lastly, we have achieved a valuable generation capacity of 6,003 megawatts ever in Nigeria. So which is why I keep saying that, when you put in some level of activity, you see the results”, he said.