The Federal Government has unveiled an ambitious target to ramp up national electricity supply from the current output of about 5,500 megawatts to 8,500 megawatts within the next 12 to 18 months, as part of efforts to stabilise and expand Nigeria’s power infrastructure.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ayodeji Gbeleyi, gave the charge on Wednesday in Abuja, during a Senior Leadership Team Retreat for top management members of the newly established Nigerian Independent System Operator.
He tasked NISO to take the lead in improving grid management, system reliability, and operational efficiency to deliver on the target.
“The National Broadcast of Electricity today said generation revolves around 5500MW. I do hope most sincerely that when we come back here 12 months from now, that generation capacity, based on the efficiency of the transmission grid, will be somewhere around 7500 to 8,500MW. We must move from where we are within the next 12 months,” Gbeleyi said. “That’s the charge, and NISO is expected to play a strategic role in achieving this.”
The power sector’s growth, he said, depends heavily on a stable transmission backbone and a well-managed national grid, noting that enhanced coordination and investment in system operations are crucial to meeting consumer demand and supporting industrial growth.
The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry currently records a wheeling of 5,500MW daily, while generation capacity is well over 14,000MW.
Gbeleyi, who insisted the target is achievable, said in the near term, the industry can up its capacity in the next 12 to 18 months by at least 50 per cent.
“Where we stand today, we have about 5,500 MW of power being wheeled on a day-to-day basis. Compare that with the fact that the total nameplate capacity for generation in the country is a bit above 14,000 MW.
“So it is not a tall order for us to believe that in the near term, 12 to 18 months, we can scale up capacity, you know, to probably increase that 5,500 by a minimum of 50 per cent,” the BPE boss added.
On his part, the NISO Managing Director, Abdu Mohammed, said the 8,500MW target is realisable because of coordination and focus on attracting investment from the private sector.
He said in view of what the representative of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, chairman, Engr. Sanusi Garba, who was represented by Commissioner Dafe Akpneye, said the NISO is capable of achieving the target.
According to him, NISO expects to see modernisation of the grid, resilience, stability and reliability. On the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, he said the government has awarded new contracts for the system covering the entire nation.
According to him, work is in progress all over, across the northern points in the system, while contractors are working endlessly, timelessly, tirelessly. He revealed that by the end of next year, the SCADA should be set.
In his goodwill message, the NISO Board Chairman, Dr Adesesan Akin-Olugbade said the occasion marks not only the beginning of a new administrative era but also a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s ongoing journey towards a resilient, transparent and efficient electricity market.
The PUNCH reports that the two-day retreat is themed, “Strategic leadership for grid stability and market transformation in a decentralised, multi-level NESI.”
https://punchng.com/fg-targets-8500mw-electricity-output-in-one-year
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