The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, is wooing investors into the country’s struggling electricity sector, especially the transmission segment, where perennial system failure disrupts power supply to homes and industries.
Recall that from 2013 to 2022, the Osogbo-based national electricity grid has failed electricity consumers more than 126 times.
The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the umbrella body of distribution companies, had earlier decried the repeated system collapse, blaming the situation on the obsolete and analog system being used by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which is owned by the government.
The Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) had similarly lamented over the impact on power infrastructure and the chaos it creates in the form of monetary setbacks for activities in hospitals, airports, and others.”
While the sector is financially strapped as the industry struggles to perform eight years after the government sold it for about $3 billion, Aliyu stated that the Federal Government would be willing to accept investors into the sector.
In a release signed by the Deputy Director in the department of public relations at the ministry, Mathew Osumanyi Dan’asabe, Aliyu noted that investment in the sector would be needed more in addressing systems failure.
Aliyu said this while receiving the Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria, Hidayet Bayratar.
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari remained committed towards infrastructural development in the power sector.
He said Nigeria and Turkey’s relationship is a long standing one which has culminated in the signing an MoU between the two countries last year in October to collaborate for mutual benefits.
Stating the improvement in systems failure due to the maintenance of the national grid, Aliyu said various interventions are being put into the power sector.
He said the distribution aspect of the power sector in the country is an area worth investing in while asking Turkey and the rest of the world to partner with Nigeria to share experience in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Bayratar, while reacting, said their visit was a follow-up to the MoU signed late last year noting that Turkey is willing to assist and collaborate in areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, share knowledge and experience in construction of and operation of wind, solar and hydroelectric power plants.
