The Power Sector reached 5,000 MW in May for the first time in 3 years – Adelabu

Energy Minister Adebayo Adelabu has announced that for the first time in three years, the Nigerian power sector has achieved an impressive capacity of 5,000 MW this month as efforts by stakeholders continue to boost energy production.

The minister made this known in a statement during a press conference held in Abuja on Friday.

He said the increase in production clearly demonstrates the ministry’s commitment and efforts over the past nine months to increase production in the sector.

He further explained that the federal government’s target is to achieve 6,000 MW by the end of the year, an achievement unprecedented in Nigeria’s power sector.

“In terms of generation capacity, 5,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity was reached in May 2024 for the first time in 3 years —

“Exactly on the 3rd^R&D May 2024, we generated, transmitted and distributed 5,345 MW instead of the usual 3,000 MW.

“We all know what we went through in February and March. But we rose to the occasion and made sure we changed the situation for the better.

“Our target is to achieve 6,000MW capacity for the first time in Nigeria’s history by the end of this year.

We improved the grid’s power generation capacity by adding 700 MW in Gereg. We also propose to switch on a solar energy source with a capacity of 3,000 utility units in the next 24 months to change the structure of energy generation,” Adelabu said.

History

In early March, Adelabu said the federal government planned to increase electricity generation capacity from 3,500 megawatts to 6,500 megawatts over the next three to six months.

He said the aim was to improve energy supply across the country to meet growing energy needs.

Adelabu described the government’s plan to initially focus on providing services to customers in higher billing brackets and then gradually improve services to all customer segments through targeted infrastructure investments.

He explained the key need to stimulate demand through active customer interaction, ensuring efficient use of the energy generated, and emphasized the need for efficient distribution to reduce waste.

The Minister noted the Government’s commitment to improving the sector’s performance through significant investment in infrastructure and effective customer response.

He stressed the importance of broad-based change and transformation in every part of the power sector, focusing on challenges such as metering, vandalism, debt collection and customer relations.

“3,500 megawatts is unacceptable and we have plans to increase capacity to a minimum of 6,000 to 6,500 in the next three to six months,” he said.