THE Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, said the Federal Government has paid 45 per cent of invoices submitted by electricity-generating companies, GenCos, in Nigeria.
He said this has gone a long way in reducing the financial challenges GenCos encounters in different parts of the nation.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 110MVA power transformer at the 132/33KV Transmission substation in Isolo, Lagos, yesterday, he said: “Since our administration came into power, we have paid 40 to 45 per cent of the energy invoice of GenCos; it dropped to 38 per cent last year, due to the increase in size of energy supply. The balance is called the government subsidy from the tariff short form.
“At a time we were owing them N1.3 trillion, we paid N220 billion a few months ago, and we are trying to improve on these payments. The government will not relent in sourcing for funds to pay the GENCOs and we assure you that this year, a large percentage of their debts will be paid.”
He said, “As we migrate more customers to Band A segment, the cost-related tariff that is being paid will make funds available to the GENCOs. In 2024, the cost reflected tariff help to reduce the expected government subsidy from N3.9 trillion to about N2.4 trillion. This was achieved as a result of the 15 per cent increase in tariff of customers’ bills.
“I am happy we are commissioning this project today because of the positive impact it will have on our energy access and reliability, but few minutes ago I got news from my office in Abuja that the Katampe central area 132kva lines 1 and 2, which were underground transmission cables, were vandalized early this morning.
“This has thrown the entire central area of the FCT, Abuja, which includes Maitama and even my own office, Garki, into darkness. The issue of vandalism is what we all must rise up against, as it will continue to draw the country backwards even as we struggle to stabilise energy power transmission distribution in the country.”
Chief Adelabu appealed to local communities to assist in protecting power infrastructure, stressing that “We need to support government to overcome the major challenge of vandalism, as this act is negative to national growth.
“The grid collapse experienced last year was mainly due to generation shortfalls and vandalism. Despite all of these, transmission has continued to improve access and reliability; also, there has been more new equipment, and hundreds of transformers have been added to the grid.”
Similarly, the Managing Director/CEO of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Engr. Sule Abdulaziz, said, “The inauguration of the 110MVA power transformer is a project under the service level agreement.
“It is a testament to TCN’s unwavering commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s transmission network despite the many challenges. Notably, this is the first service level agreement transformer project completed and energised by TCN as it brings us closer to realising a robust and sustainable grid system.
“The 110MVA power transformer was successfully energised on December 20th, 2024, contributing an additional 88 megawatts to the Isolo substation capacity, bringing it to a total of 184 megawatts. This will significantly boost the substation’s ability to provide improved electricity supply to the Ikeja and Eko distribution companies.
“TCN has installed and energised over 42 power transformers in several TCN substations nationwide in year 2024. We therefore urge everyone to join TCN in the fight against power installation vandalism. Our journey to a robust grid will be significantly accelerated if vandals do not destroy existing infrastructure.”
On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of Ikeja Electric, Mrs. Folate Soetan, said the inauguration of the power transformer will help to pull up more load and also improve their infrastructure.
She said, “We are going to radiate a feeder that will pull up energy from this particular power transformer. I am excited about this because ultimately our customers will get more energy.”
Vanguard