Joseph Tegbe, Minister of Power, says the federal government is targeting 6,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity supply by December 2026.
Tegbe said the target is part of ongoing efforts to
strengthen the country’s electricity infrastructure, improve grid reliability,
and ensure available power is delivered to consumers and economic clusters.
The minister spoke on Wednesday at the launch of the
Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO), jointly established by the Ministry
of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the
Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp) to manage publicly financed
renewable energy assets.
Tegbe said the government would also extend RAMCO’s
asset-management model beyond renewable energy to the entire energy sector.
“For me, RAMCO offers a different model, a new paradigm,”
Tegbe said.
“I’m committed to not only limiting this to renewable
energy. We will also shift it to the entire energy sector. And this new model
will focus on professional stewardship, governance, discipline, sustainability,
and measuring performance.”
‘NIGERIA RICH IN POWER ASSETS BUT POOR IN RELIABLE
ELECTRICITY’
Tegbe said the government’s focus is not merely to increase
power generation but to improve the reliability and sustainability of
electricity delivery.
“RAMCO is not going to be measured by how many megawatts you
deliver, but the reliability of your delivery and the sustainability of that
delivery,” he said.
He said Nigeria has an “embarrassing paradox” of having
substantial power assets, energy resources and installed infrastructure but
poor availability of dependable electricity.
Tegbe said the government has identified three major energy
zones and corridors and is currently conducting technical audits to determine
the condition of infrastructure along them.
He said the assessment would establish the number of faulty
insulators, conductors, and transmission towers, among other infrastructure
requiring intervention.
According to the minister, some of the equipment and
infrastructure have been in place for about 42 years, adding that the
government would replace ageing components to strengthen the transmission
network.
He said the government is also working to address liquidity
challenges in the electricity market through a sustainable repayment framework,
as it plans to optimise existing power assets by linking them directly to
industrial clusters and economic corridors.
Tegbe said mini-grids would also be deployed in areas
without transmission infrastructure as part of efforts to diversify power
supply.
“Wherever we do not have a transmission line, we will fill
it up with mini-grids going forward,” he said.
He said the government’s long-term electricity strategy
would combine grid supply with embedded generation, interconnected and isolated
networks, distributed renewable energy, storage and other technologies suited
to specific communities and economic clusters.
Tegbe said the new approach represents a departure from the
traditional model of identifying, procuring, building and commissioning
infrastructure without adequate attention to its long-term sustainability.
He described the new model as one that would identify risks,
structure financing, build, upgrade, maintain, optimise, recycle and renew
public infrastructure.
The minister said the government would also work to
strengthen grid resilience through the development of additional transmission
infrastructure and energy corridors.
He said the ultimate objective is to ensure that public
investments in the power sector continue to generate value and deliver reliable
electricity to Nigerians.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com