The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has reiterated the urgency of implementing regional power grids in Nigeria to mitigate frequent national grid collapses. Speaking during the launch of Hexing Nigeria’s new office in Lekki, Lagos, Adelabu emphasized that the decentralization of power through the new Electricity Act offers a crucial solution to the country’s ongoing power infrastructure challenges.
He explained, “This Electricity Act has decentralised power. It has enabled all the subnational governments, the state government, and the local government to participate in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. We all rely on a single national grid today; if there is a disturbance of the national grid, it affects all 36 states. It shouldn’t be like that. This will enable us to start moving gradually towards having regional groups and possibly having state grids.”
The Minister further elaborated on the benefits of independent regional grids, stating, “Each of these grids will be removed and shielded from each other. So, if there’s a problem with a particular grid, only the state where it belongs will be affected, not the entire nation.”
On the issue of grid collapses, Adelabu acknowledged the country’s aging power infrastructure, stating, “We keep talking about grid collapse. Grid collapse, grid collapse, whether it’s a total collapse, partial collapse, or slight trip-off. This is almost inevitable as it is today, given the state of our power infrastructure. The infrastructure is in deplorable conditions, so why won’t you have trip-offs? Why won’t you have collapses, either total or partial? It will continue to remain like this until we can overhaul the entire infrastructure.”
Despite the challenges, the Minister noted some progress, saying, “In the last four months, we have not heard of any grid collapse, except two days ago when we had a partial collapse that didn’t even last two hours. So, what we work on now is how to improve our response time, to bring it up each time it collapses.”
Adelabu also pointed out the importance of upgrading outdated equipment, remarking, “There are transformers of 60 years old, and 50 years old, and you’re expecting them to perform at the optimal rate. It is not possible.”
During the launch, Adelabu praised Hexing Nigeria for its investment in Nigeria, noting the company’s role in local production of smart meters and solar products. He emphasized that such investments are essential for modernizing Nigeria’s energy infrastructure, reducing reliance on imports, and creating jobs.
The event underscored the importance of collaborations between the government and private sector companies like Hexing Nigeria in fostering Nigeria’s transition to a more reliable and sustainable energy future. The Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to supporting initiatives that aim to stabilize the national grid and enhance energy distribution across the country.
