Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has lauded the contributions of stakeholders in the power sector to the current milestone recorded in the nation’s electricity value chain.
Fashola made the commendation at the 23rd monthly power sector meeting in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
He said that the milestones recorded had reassured the stakeholders that they were on the right part to repositioning the sector.
“I will like to start my remarks by highlighting the progress and milestones on our journey for incremental power, which reassures us that we are on the right path.
“It inspires us to continue with more belief.
“Power generated has gone up to 7,000 MW in 2017 from 3,000 MW recorded in May 2015; transmission capacity stands at 6,900MW in 2017 from about 5,000 MW in May 2015.
“The peak distribution now averaging 5,000 MW in 2017 from 2,690MW in 2015.
“I will like to thank all of you for your contributions toward these milestones,’’ the minister said.
He said that the stakeholders, through their contributions, were impacting the lives of Nigerians, saving them money and changing their lifestyles for the better.
“ People tell me that their consumption of diesel and petrol to run generators for power has reduced and hours they run their generators have gradually reduced.
“This is the result of incremental power supply and we must get more of it.
“They also told me that they are now monitoring how they use power and are turning off appliances that are not needed,’’ Fashola said.
The minister said government and stakeholders had increased power supply in the last three months, adding that Nigerian’s experience of power supply in the dry weather was better.
“The cynics, who used to say that it is only during the rains that power improves, now see that what we have done is no fluke,’’ he said.
Fashola also thanked the Ministry of Petroleum for increased supply of gas to the power generation companies.
He said that the impact of the mini-grid regulations presented few months ago by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had begun to manifest.
“Last month in Abuja, Nigeria, through the Rural Electrification Agency, hosted a mini-grid summit that is the largest ever attended in Africa with 600 participants from about 40 countries.
“Mini-grids will help us to connect more people and boost incremental power,’’ Fashola said.
He said that efforts were on to put together a policy position to help expand the distribution network of the Distribution Companies (Discos).
This, he said, would be used for the distribution of 2,000MW currently available, but could not be distributed.
He also urged stakeholders to work harder to increase meters distribution to reduce incidents of estimated billings.