The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, and experts, under the aegis of the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE), yesterday, advanced the need for improved investment in mini-grid systems and stronger partnership among the Federal Government, institutions, professional bodies, private investors, academia and talented engineers to transform the power sector.

Tegbe led the call during the 16th Distinguished Electrical and Electronic Engineering Award Laureate (DEEEAL) for Isaac Ademola Agoro/lecture organised by the NIEEE in Lagos.

He said the solution for future energy generation no longer relies on large central power generation due to the long gestation period of implementation, dispatch issues, associated technical losses, and complex operation systems, but by adopting distributed generation through mini-grid adoption.

This, he said, would be a transformative solution for resolving grid instability and reaching the last-mile energy gap.

The minister, represented by the Director, Renewable and Rural Power Access Department of the ministry, Dr Sunday Owolabi, said the ministry would continue to engage professional institutions in shaping policies and implementing sustainable engineering solutions.

President and Chairman-in-Council, NIEEE, Dr Felix Adegboye, said that with the operationalisation of the Electricity Act, the monopoly on power has cracked, opening the doors wide for localised energy solutions.

He said that as the country pushes for decentralisation, it faces a complex engineering puzzle of how to ensure that these localised energy systems are reliable, interconnected, and scalable

Adegboye said that DEEEAL recognition stands as the crown jewel of the Institute’s intellectual and professional attainment.

He added that since inception, it has served a vital purpose to bring the finest minds in the profession together to proffer engineering-backed solutions to the infrastructure and technological challenges of the nation.

Meanwhile, Chairman, Board of Directors, Environs Systems Limited/DEEEAL Awardee of NIEEE, Isaac Agoro, who spoke on the theme, “Optimised design and interconnectivity strategy for distributed generation in multi-community mini grids with adaptive grid integration pathways in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said that mini-grids are currently an indispensable component of Sub-Africa’s electrification strategy, offering a technically and economically viable route to closing a persistent access gap that central grid extension alone cannot close within the timeframes set by regional and global development targets.

Agoro said that policy conversation had shifted from treating mini-grids purely as isolated, standalone systems to moving toward recognising them as an integral, and ultimately interconnectable part of the wider power system.

He also said that the transition of isolated mini-grids to interconnected, multi-community, grid-integrated assets represents both the central technical challenge and the most promising opportunity for the power sector’s next phase of growth.