The federal government has charged all the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in the country to be ready to receive and distribute not less than 6,100 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the next six months. Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who stated this, also announced the government’s plan to secure funding ranging from N250 billion to N300 billion to close the over seven million metering gap in the country on an annual basis over the next four to five years.
He explained that the government intended to raise that fund through a N75-billion seed capital to be provided by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, along with additional debt capital injections from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).Adelabu revealed these at the weekend when he visited Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) in Lagos and the Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited (MEMMCOL) in Ogun State.
He revealed that a bill for legislation to replicate local content law in the power sector was underway.Speaking at the Eko Disco office, Adelabu said the charge to the Discos to be prepared to uptake 6,100MW became necessary after the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) successfully conducted system stress tests, where it demonstrated its ability to transmit over 8,100MW, alongside the proposed plans for a partial Sovereign Risk Guarantee (SRG) to enhance generation companies’ (Gencos) capacity.
With Eko and Ikeja Discos having exceeded a specified threshold through improved collection efficiency and service quality, Adelabu said he had unveiled a strategic plan to utilise the two Discos as model Discos to pilot test the anticipated effective supply to be implemented sector-wide in the next few months.He said the two Discos would serve as a standard for emulation by others.
However, at the MEMMCOL meter plant in Ogun, Adelabu also stated that in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the government was targeting to provide about 2.5 million prepaid meters every year to close the nation’s metering gap.This, he said, would help the government in the promotion of import substitution policy of locally-made products in the power sector and encourage backward integration in the areas of technical training.
