The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said the national grid would continue to collapse because it is “very old and dilapidated”.

Adelabu made this known during a budget defence session with the Senate Committee on Power on Monday.

The minister said the government was struggling to manage the national grid it inherited, stating that the facility suffered eight collapses in 2024 and not 12 as widely reported.

Adelabu said out of the eight incidents, three were partial collapses as a result of generation problems and five were full collapses.

“We have been trying very hard to ensure that we manage the grid that was inherited.

“Unfortunately, it is still very old. It is dilapidated. And we are just managing it until we are able to fix it permanently.

“This is the focus of the Presidential Power Initiative, to ensure that the entire grid is revamped so that we won’t be having all this vandalism,” he said.

Speaking further, Adelabu said Nigeria’s power generation increased by 34 per cent in 2024.

The minister said his administration inherited an average generation capacity of 4,100 Megawatts in 2023 and raised it to 5,528 MW by the end of 2024.

He said, “I can tell you authoritatively that by the end of 2024, we had a peak generation of 5,528 MW of power from 4,100 MW of plants.

“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.”

He also said while the initial target was 6,000 MW, unforeseen challenges such as grid disturbances towards the end of the year prevented him from achieving it.

The minister, however, noted that the shortfall was minimal.

“This progress resulted from a combination of grid access expansion and growth in renewable energy initiatives, including solar, small hydro and wind energy projects,” he added.

According to Adelabu, the failure to fix the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line has placed undue pressure on the grid, resulting in frequent collapses.

He, however, said 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. So these are the summaries of our activities. And we are proud to say that we almost met all our targets for 2024,” he said.

This is just as he stated that the Federal Government has released about N12.7bn to offer meters in army barracks across the country.

Similarly, he expressed hope that 2025 will be a better year for Nigeria, promising that all existing issues in the sector would be addressed.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Eyinnaya Abaribe, questioned the government’s continuous funding of power distribution companies (discos), even as he called for a review of their contracts and possible government reclamation if the inefficiencies persisted.

treesun:
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said the national grid would continue to collapse because it is “very old and dilapidated”.

Adelabu made this known during a budget defence session with the Senate Committee on Power on Monday.

The minister said the government was struggling to manage the national grid it inherited, stating that the facility suffered eight collapses in 2024 and not 12 as widely reported.

Adelabu said out of the eight incidents, three were partial collapses as a result of generation problems and five were full collapses.

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“We have been trying very hard to ensure that we manage the grid that was inherited.

“Unfortunately, it is still very old. It is dilapidated. And we are just managing it until we are able to fix it permanently.

“This is the focus of the Presidential Power Initiative, to ensure that the entire grid is revamped so that we won’t be having all this vandalism,” he said.

Speaking further, Adelabu said Nigeria’s power generation increased by 34 per cent in 2024.

The minister said his administration inherited an average generation capacity of 4,100 Megawatts in 2023 and raised it to 5,528 MW by the end of 2024.

He said, “I can tell you authoritatively that by the end of 2024, we had a peak generation of 5,528 MW of power from 4,100 MW of plants.

“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.”

He also said while the initial target was 6,000 MW, unforeseen challenges such as grid disturbances towards the end of the year prevented him from achieving it.

The minister, however, noted that the shortfall was minimal.

“This progress resulted from a combination of grid access expansion and growth in renewable energy initiatives, including solar, small hydro and wind energy projects,” he added.

According to Adelabu, the failure to fix the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line has placed undue pressure on the grid, resulting in frequent collapses.

He, however, said 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. So these are the summaries of our activities. And we are proud to say that we almost met all our targets for 2024,” he said.

This is just as he stated that the Federal Government has released about N12.7bn to offer meters in army barracks across the country.

Similarly, he expressed hope that 2025 will be a better year for Nigeria, promising that all existing issues in the sector would be addressed.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Eyinnaya Abaribe, questioned the government’s continuous funding of power distribution companies (discos), even as he called for a review of their contracts and possible government reclamation if the inefficiencies persisted.

https://punchng.com/national-grid-old-dilapidated-power-minister/

oz4real83:
Decentralize the grid\transmission, terrorists can't keep on vandalizing transmission lines from one section of the country and throwing the whole country into darkness, let all geopolitical zones have their own grid to avoid some of these unpleasant stories

Ofemannnu:


You all just know that now?

The inability of previous govts to prosecute Obasanjo whose govt swallowed $16 billion dollars that would have been used to resuscitate the grid is one of the greatest ills meted to the Nigeria as a nation.
When Nigeria was so rich,when they should have overhauled most of our infrastructures,they were on a steal Nigeria blind spree.

Will that very old grid carry the weight of the power being generated?

yommen:
I see many senseless comments here. Many expect Tinubu to fix power by now already but couldn't question Dangote refinery that took more than 10 years to build. Is it usually as fast as that ni?

I still maintain it. How Obasanjo spent $16b between 1999 and 2007 on power and situations remain like this baffle me. Its someone who has spend less than 2 years they are calling for his head. Is that no it senseless?

greatiyk4u:


Lolz
If you believe that story completely, the. You can believe anything in this life.

Which one is weight of power generated?

greatiyk4u:


Lolz
If you believe that story completely, the. You can believe anything in this life.

Which one is weight of power generated?