By Patience Chat Moses
The Federal Government in a bid to boost electricity generation and national grid stability, has announced plans to invest $20 billion in new power plants and transmission lines.
This was revealed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, at the opening ceremony of the ongoing Nigeria Energy Summit in Lagos on Tuesday.
While delivering his address at the summit; Adelabu said FG would grow the power sector in 2023 and beyond through huge investments.
“The Nigerian government is actively advancing the power sector through various measures. With a $20 billion investment plan, new power plants and transmission lines are set to be established to boost power generation and grid stability,” he said.
Adelabu further noted that energy is the lifeblood of any economy, and no meaningful industrial growth can be achieved without power.
“That is why my tenure would focus on growing power generation to 20, 000 megawatts in the next three years. But the target would be impossible without investments from all investors across the sector’s value chain. From the utilities to transmission and generation companies; everyone must be ready to invest to achieve the target,” he added.
According to the Minister, the mid and long-term power generation targets is 30,000MW by 2030, and 60,000MW by 2060 is achievable. He said enough investments must be made to not only generate power, but also on how to transmit same to end users.
He explained the huge metering gap must be closed in order to ensure that power generated would be transmitted to electricity consumers who would in turn pay for the services.
“It is enough just to generate power, but the most important thing is also to be able to get at most 90 per cent of the power to consumers that would pay for it”, he explained.
The Minister noted that the Ministry has been able to identify 8 million metering gap, advising investors to prepare for long term investments in the sector.
“The Nigerian electricity market is huge. So, investors must be ready for mid and long term investments before expecting to make profits. The industry needs liquidity and this can be attained through equity and debt capital,” he said.
While delivering the opening address, Exhibition Director, Nigeria Energy organized by Informa Markets, Ade Yesufu, said restructuring the electricity market by introducing competition and private sector involvement was underway.
He also disclosed that emphasis would also be on renewable energy like solar and wind power aimed to diversify the energy mix and reduce reliance on fossil fuels to achieve the goals of the Nigerian Energy Transition Plan.
Yesufu added that addressing energy theft was another priority to enhance the sector’s financial capability.