By Isaac Anyaogu
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s electricity output has surged by 30% this week to a peak near 6,000 megawatts after the completion of part of an ongoing overhaul of the country’s generation infrastructure.
Despite having the infrastructure to generate 13,000 MW of electricity, only a third of that has typically reached consumers through an aging grid that covers roughly half the nation, forcing businesses and households to rely on costly generators.
Sule Abdulaziz, head of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, said it had commissioned 66 new power transformers and built new substations and transmission lines.
“We increased capacity of existing substations and built new ones,” he said.
A 2019 agreement with Siemens to rehabilitate transmission lines and power distribution substations, funded by German banks, aimed to achieve 7,000 MW of reliable power by 2021 and 11,000 MW by 2023. However, it has faced regulatory, logistical and financing challenges.
Abdulaziz said the Federal Executive Council had given approval for the Siemens project to move ahead with the reinforcement of seven existing transmission substations.
In a pilot phase, six projects added an additional 335 MW of capacity and when the next phase is completed, 15 brownfield power substations will have been rehabilitated and 22 greenfield substations built up.
Grid improvements are also being supported by government funding and multilateral organisations like the World Bank and African Development Bank.
The government secured $1.1 billion from the AfDB in January for the power sector and has announced a separate $192 million, five-year plan to boost transmission capacity.
Electricity generation peaked at a record high 5,801.84 MW on Tuesday and stood at 5,590 MW on Thursday. The government is optimistic that it can surpass 10,000 MW by the end of next year.
(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
