Vandalism derails FG’s 6,000MW power generation goal, says minister
Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, has identified vandalism of critical power transmission infrastructure as a significant barrier to meeting the target of 6,000 megawatts of electricity generation by December 2024.He stated that, while the government had taken steps to achieve this goal, repeated attacks on electricity towers had hampered progress.
According to The Punch, the Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the Minister, Bolaji Tunji, made the disclosure on Sunday.
Nigeria's power generation capacity currently ranges between 4,000 MW and 4,900 MW, coming from 19 power plants.
This output serves the country's population of approximately 200 million people, highlighting the significant energy demand-supply gap.
Adelabu pledged earlier this year to generate 6,000 MW of power by the end of 2024, citing progress in the sector.
However, the frequent collapse of Nigeria's electricity grid, combined with transmission tower vandalism, has disrupted power supply stability and hampered efforts to meet the target.
In November, the special adviser expressed optimism about meeting the 6,000 MW target, noting that approximately 1,000 MW had been added since the current administration took office. Despite this progress, challenges such as grid failures and vandalism continue to stymie future advances in power generation.
He stated, "When the current administration took over, the generation was around 4,000 megawatts. However, within a year, approximately 1,000 megawatts were added. By November 27, we had again met our target of 5,231 megawatts. Indeed, a promise of 6,000 megawatts was made, and given what we were doing, we believed it was achievable. Unfortunately, the actions of vandals set us back. We will not rest on our laurels to ensure additional supply to the grid."
As of November 2024, the Transmission Company of Nigeria reported spending N8.8 billion to repair and restore 128 vandalised transmission towers across the country.
He brought up another critical issue in the power sector: insufficient cash backing for subsidy payments. While N450 billion was budgeted for the current year, the debt incurred for subsidy payments has risen to N2.3 trillion, exacerbating financial challenges in the sector.
Bolaji stated, "One of the major issues has been the cash backing of the subsidy, which relates to debt owed to generation and gas companies. This year's subsidy will be around N2.3 trillion, but only N450 billion was budgeted.
"Another issue has been the fragility of the transmission grid due to the level of vandalism."
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