The Minister of Energy, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has announced that the Federal Government has paid 45 per cent of bills submitted by electricity generating companies (GenCos) in Nigeria.
He highlighted that this has significantly alleviated the financial challenges faced by GenCos across the country.
During the inauguration of a new power transformer at the 132/33KV transmission substation in Isolo, Lagos, he stated: “Since our administration took over, we have paid between 40 and 45 percent of the power bills of the GenCos . This figure fell last year to 38 percent due to the increase in the amount of energy supplied. The remaining balance is covered by government subsidies resulting from the tariff deficit.
“At one point, we owed GenCos over N1.3 trillion and we paid N220 billion a few months ago. We are committed to improving these payments. The government will continue to seek funds to pay the GenCos and we assure them that a significant portion of their debts will be settled this year.”
He added: “As we migrate more customers to the Band A segment, the fees paid will generate funds for the GenCos. In 2024, the cost-reflective tariff will help reduce the planned government subsidy from N3.9 trillion to about N2.4 trillion. This reduction was made possible by a 15 percent increase in customer bills.”
“I am happy that we are commissioning this project today because of the positive impact it will have on our energy access and reliability, but a few minutes ago I received news from my office in Abuja that lines 1 and 2 of the Katampe central area of 132 kva, which were underground transmission cables, were vandalized early this morning.
“This has plunged the entire central area of the FCT, Abuja, which includes Maitama and even my own office, Garki, into darkness. We all must confront the problem of vandalism as it will continue to set the country back even as we struggle to stabilize the power transmission distribution in the country.”
Chief Adelabu appealed to local communities to help protect the electrical infrastructure, stressing that “We need to support the government to overcome the major challenge of vandalism as this act is negative for national growth.
“The grid collapse experienced last year was primarily due to generation shortages and vandalism. Despite all this, streaming has continued to improve access and reliability; Additionally, there has been more new equipment and hundreds of transformers have been added to the grid.”
READ ALSO: Cross River: Residents Protest PHEDC Estimated Billing, List Demands
Similarly, the Managing Director/CEO of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Engr. Sule Abdulaziz, said: “The inauguration of the 110 MVA 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 numerous challenges. Notably, this is the first service level agreement transformer project completed and energized by TCN, as it brings us closer to realizing a robust and sustainable grid system.
“The 110MVA power transformer was successfully energized on December 20, 2024, contributing an additional 88 megawatts to the capacity of the Isolo substation, bringing it to a total of 184 megawatts. This will significantly increase the capacity of the substation to provide better electricity supply to the Ikeja and Eko distribution companies.
“TCN has installed and energized more than 42 power transformers at various TCN substations nationwide by 2024. Therefore, we urge everyone to join TCN in the fight against vandalism at power facilities. “Our path to a robust network will be significantly accelerated if vandals do not destroy existing infrastructure.”
For her part, the Chief Executive Officer of Ikeja Electric, Mrs. Folate Soetan, said the inauguration of the power transformer will help lift more load and also improve its infrastructure.
She said: “We are going to irradiate a feeder that will draw power from this particular power transformer. “I’m excited about this because ultimately our customers will get more energy.”