The Federal Government has apologised to Nigerians over the recent collapse of the national grid which caused power outages for several days in the region of the country.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made the apology during a courtesy visit to Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf in Kano on Thursday, October 31, 2024.
Adelabu, who described the situation as “very unfortunate”, said the federal government was overhauling the national grid to reduce the frequent disturbances in the system and improve power supply across Nigeria.
He said the national grid is over 50 years old with components that are weak, obsolete, and dilapidated, including the lines and substations, with old transformers.
The minister disclosed that most of the towers installed on the system a long time ago were falling due to the effects of weather and climate change, adding that they need continuous maintenance.
Adelabu said: “This grid requires a lot of money to maintain.
“So, what we have now, we will continue to manage it and prevent frequent disturbances until we are able to overhaul this infrastructure 100 per cent.”
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Adelabu said the federal government was revamping the entire grid structure as various programmes were being put in place to ensure that old infrastructure was replaced.
He listed the programmes to include the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), known as the Siemens project, which is ongoing.
According to him, there is also the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) expansion programme supported by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Adelabu said the pilot phase of the Siemens project had just been concluded and it involved the importation of 10 power transformers as well as 10 power mobile sub-stations.
He further stated that phase one of the Siemens project would soon commence after which the national grid performance would be better than what was being experienced presently.
The minister appealed to Nigerians to protect the nation’s power infrastructure from vandals, saying they cost a lot of money.
Speaking, Yusuf, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Shehu Sagagi, said the Kano State Government was completing work at the 10 megawatts hydropower plant at Tiga and 6 megawatts at Chalawa hydropower plant.
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The governor said the state government would soon establish a state electricity market to attract the private sector.
“We are calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and set up an emergency mini-grid power plant that will supply adequate voltage in the state and diversify generation to reduce dependence on the national grid,” he added.
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