Minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, has stated that Nigeria’s power generation increased by 34 per cent in 2024.
He disclosed this while addressing the senate committee on power during a budget defence session.
According to the minister, his administration inherited an average generation capacity of 4,100 megawatts (MW) in 2023 and raised it to 5,528 MW by the end of 2024.
Continuing, Adelabu said: “And the reason for this is not far-fetched. We know that we added a new hydroelectric power dam, Zungeru, of 700 MW, and also there was a tremendous increase in the generation by other existing power generating companies, mainly hydro and thermal plants.”
The minister also said while the initial target was 6,000 MW, unforeseen challenges such as grid disturbances towards the end of the year prevented them from achieving it, noting, however, that the shortfall was minimal.
He further pointed out that energy access rose from 59 per cent at the end of 2023 to 64 per cent by the close of 2024, adding that the progress made was the result of a combination of grid access expansion and growth in renewable energy initiatives, including solar, small hydro and wind energy projects.
Adelabu said the metering gap in the country remained worrisome with approximately six million electricity customers currently metered, while over seven million remain unmetered.
He said to address the issue, the ministry had secured a N700 billion fund and plans to commence the procurement of meters in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 and that the goal is to procure at least two million meters annually over the next five years.
The minister expressed confidence that the procurement will eliminate the existing meter gap and eliminate any form of fraud in terms of electricity billing.
On the issue of the frequent collapses of the national grid, Adelabu said the failure to fix the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line has placed undue pressure on the grid, adding that the federal government has been unable to repair the power transmission line in northern Nigeria due to persistent insecurity in the region.
“The Kanduna-Shiroro-Mando line was one of the two major lines that transmit power to the north. The second one, which is the Ugwuaji-Makurdi line, was also vandalised, and we immediately rectified the line as the only source of power to the north.
“As I’m talking to you, we have not rectified the major line, which is the Shiroro-Mando-Kanduna line, which is why our grid is so fragile, because it’s only one line that is still supplying power to the north and is being burdened unnecessarily. It is still the insecurity that has not led us to fix the Shiroro-Kanduna-Mando line.
“We tried to fix it but our engineers were chased by terrorists and bandits with heavy weapons, it was like a civil war, that’s how bad it is. We handed it over to the security agencies, they have not even fixed it,” the minister explained.
He also informed the lawmakers that the national grid suffered eight collapses in 2024 and not 12 as widely reported, adding that out of the eight incidents, three were partial collapses as a result of generation problems.
Responding, chairman of the committee, Eyinnaya Abaribe, questioned the government’s continuous funding of power distribution companies (DisCos).
