Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, said on Monday that Nigeria’s power generation increased by 30 percent in 2024.
The minister, speaking during a budget defence session with the Senate Committee on Power, revealed that his administration inherited an average generation capacity of 4,100 megawatts (MW) in 2023 and raised it to 5,528 MW by the end of 2024.
“I can tell you authoritatively that by the end of 2024, we had a peak generation of 5,528 MW of power from 4,100 MW of plant. And the reason for this is not far-fetched. We know that we added a new hydroelectric power dam, Zungeru, of 700 MW, and also there was a tremendous increase in the generation by other existing power generating companies, mainly hydro and thermal plants,” he explained.
He noted that while the initial target was 6,000 MW, unforeseen challenges such as grid disturbances towards the end of the year prevented him from achieving it. However, he emphasised that the shortfall was minimal.
The minister also reported an increase in energy access, which rose by 5%l percent from 59 percent at the end of 2023 to 64 percent by the close of 2024. This progress, according to Adelabu, resulted from a combination of grid access expansion and growth in renewable energy initiatives, including solar, small hydro and wind energy projects.
Despite these achievements, the minister expressed concerns about the metering gap in the country. He disclosed that approximately six million electricity customers are currently metered, while over seven million remain unmetered.
To address this issue, Adelabu revealed that the ministry had secured a N700 billion fund and plans to commence the procurement of meters in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025. He explained that the goal is to procure at least two million meters annually over the next five years, which he believes will completely eliminate the existing meter gap and eliminate any form of fraud in terms of electricity billing.