Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, indicated on Monday that the country’s power generation will expand by nearly 30% in 2024. Adelabu revealed the information during his ministry’s 2025 budget defence before the Senate Committee on Power at the National Assembly complex. He stated that when he assumed head of the ministry in 2023, he achieved an average of 4,100 megawatts of power generation.
“I can tell you authoritatively that by the end of 2024, we had a peak generation of 5,528 megawatts of power from 4,100 megawatts that we met on ground.”The reason for this is not far-fetched. We built a new hydroelectric power dam, Zungeru, with 700 megawatts. “There was also a tremendous increase in the generation lines by other existing generation companies,” according to him.
The minister stated that the aim for power generation was 6,000 megawatts, however because to the issues encountered near the end of 2024 in terms of grid breakdowns, the ministry missed the target by a small margin. He went on to say that, in addition to expanding energy access, the industry planned to stabilise the grid and other transmission facilities.
“I’m also pleased to inform you that, of the eight national grid collapses that occurred in 2024, five were complete collapses and three were partial. “Three of the five full collapses were caused by generating issues. So, compared to the 12 collapses reported, there were only roughly eight.
“We have been working extremely hard to ensure that we manage the grid that was inherited. “Unfortunately, it is still really old. It is deteriorated. And we’re just managing it until we can solve it permanently. “This is the Presidential Power Initiative’s objective, to ensuring that the entire system is renovated so that there is no more vandalism. “These are the summaries of our operations. And we are pleased to report that we have nearly met all of our targets for 2024.
“Our hope is that 2025 will be a better year for us, and we will be able to address all the existing issues in the sector,” he told reporters. In his remarks, Sen. Eyinnaya Abaribe, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, questioned the government’s continued backing of power distribution companies (discos), urging a review of their contracts and probable government reclamation if inefficiencies continued. The committee requested that the minister meet with all discos later to address contract performance and obligations.
