FG to Concentrate on Alternative Sources to Improve Power 

The Federal Government intends to concentrate on an alternative source of generation to improve the power supply, according to Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu.

In an interview with Power Correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja, Adelabu stated that the goal was to shift the emphasis away from the national grid and toward distributed power.

He states that it is possible to generate power and deliver it directly to consumers without going via the national grid, and that looking into alternative sources of generation is the best way to achieve this.

“We want to use small hydros, we have small dams that can generate between 500 kilowatts down to five megawatts.

“So, we want to focus on that to generate power to identified locations embedded in the distribution network without passing through the transmission network because the capacity and stability of our transmission is still constrained,” he said.

The minister said that the government was also looking at solar energy, as there are a lot of investors who have given the country offers to invest in it. Adelabu said that a lot of them were asking the government to give them a power purchase agreement (PPA) and evacuate it to the grid.

“No, it won’t happen now. Whoever wants to invest in solar power must identify who the off-takers are; our focus should be on off-grid power generation.

“We have proposals for offshore wind power in Nigeria, we have potential for this because we are a coastal country. We can have wind fans that we give us very clean power.

“That is what we want to do, why we concentrate on continuously improving the grid and expanding its capacity. We don’t want to wait we want to generate power and distribute to our people,” he stated.

Adelabu said he has also ordered an investigation into the extension of the licences of Electricity Distribution Companies, otherwise known as DisCos by five years.

”When I came in, the licences I saw were for 10 years, 2013 to 2023. But along the line, I spoke to the NERC Chairman they said they have extended the licences for another five years,” he added.

Adelabu claimed that the issues facing the power industry were complex and affected every stage of the value chain, from distribution to transmission to generation. He asserted that there isn’t a single person who can address the industry’s issues and that cooperation from all parties is required to get the intended outcome.

“We are going to make an impact by turning the industry around and deliver improved power to the doorstep of households, businesses and industries,” Adelabu said.

The minister said that desired results were not achieved in the sector because it has always been top to down approach, saying, “that is from generation to transmission to distribution.”

The minister also urged the media to report objectively, adding that they were partners in achieving the mandate of the present administration of delivering stable power to Nigerians.

“Communication is key in anything you do. no matter how hard you work and you don’t communicate in the right quarters nobody will know what you are doing,” he added.