The Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu has said the challenges in distribution and the transmission value chain have led to the underutilisation of the 13,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation capacity.
A statement from the Federal Ministry of Power on Thursday said the minister stated this during a courtesy call on him by the Vice President, Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth Complex of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Kevin Kanina Kariuki, in Abuja.
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While he assured of improved quality and quantity of electricity supply to consumers, Engr. Aliyu said the power sector has a lot of opportunities for investors varying from the Distribution, and Transmission, its challenge has left the generation of over 13,000MW underused.
Although the minister lauded AfDB for its intervention in certain areas of the power sector, he said more intervention was needed, stating that 80 percent of the megawatts come from gas. Aliyu also said there are efforts to transition to renewable energy through independent power producers which would increase the energy supply to the national grid.
The minister directed officials of the ministry to further interact with AfDB on areas of intervention and collaboration.
In his comments, Mr. Kariuki said the AfDB appreciates the reform in the Nigerian power sector and would be glad of its success.
Kariuki said this was because Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa and the success of the reform will be a guide for other countries to follow.
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