Nigeria’s power grid is set for a fresh boost as the Federal Government begins clearing more than 300 containers of electricity equipment stranded at the nation’s ports, while recent transmission projects have added 912MW of capacity across Lagos and Abuja.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, announced the development in Abuja on Tuesday during a media parley marking his first 100 days in office, saying the containers contain critical equipment, including transformers, cables and other network components, which would be inspected before being deployed and installed at designated project sites.
“The next task is to inspect, deploy and install the equipment,” Tegbe said, describing the release of the containers as part of efforts to remove administrative bottlenecks affecting the delivery of power projects.
He said the Federal Government was working with relevant agencies to ensure the equipment was moved from the ports and put to use.
The minister said newly commissioned transformers at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos had unlocked 672 megawatts of transmission capacity.
He added that a 300MVA transformer energised at Katampe, Abuja, had provided another 240MW, bringing the additional transmission capacity reported in Lagos and Abuja to 912MW.
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Tegbe said the interventions were aimed at strengthening transmission infrastructure around major electricity demand centres and addressing bottlenecks that limit the amount of electricity delivered to distribution networks when generation is available.
He said technical audits had commenced along the Lagos and Abuja transmission corridors to identify weak points and guide investment towards interventions with measurable impact on the power system.
Tegbe identified the Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridors as priorities for the next phase of grid stabilisation.
The minister said the immediate challenge was to ensure that infrastructure improvements translated into more dependable electricity for consumers rather than remaining isolated gains within the power system.
He added that the ministry would publish performance scorecards over the next six months to make progress on the national grid more transparent and easier to assess.
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