ELECTRICITY: Adelabu laments, says big customers are leaving national grid to generate their own power

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has expressed concern over the growing trend of large electricity consumers leaving the national grid to generate their own electricity.

He said this at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company in Lagos on Thursday.

Despite generating a record 5,155MW, Adelabu noted that the majority of industries and mass users have lost confidence in the grid due to past unreliability, and are opting for more expensive standalone power plants.

Adelabu highlighted the significant cost differences, citing a fixed power production cost of N350-N400/kWh for gas-connected users, N950/kWh for diesel, and N550/kWh for petrol. Grid connection, on the other hand, offers a cheaper source of power.

To address this, the minister announced plans to restore trust and confidence in the grid, aiming to encourage mass users to reconnect. He set ambitious targets, including reaching 6 gigawatts by December 2024 and 30GW by 2030, with 30% coming from renewables.

Also Read: Bolt and Uber drivers hit by Chidimma withdrawal sparks digital ‘war’ between Nigerians and South Africans

Adelabu stressed the need for alignment of guiding principles and strategies to drive progress in the electricity sector, urging stakeholders to work together to achieve universal access to electricity.

He said, “The majority of large electricity users, such as industries, are no longer connected to the grid due to a lack of trust and confidence in the past.

“They now have their own power plants in their industry which cost more.”

According to him, continuous use of independent electricity rather than a network connection is more expensive.

“The average cost of producing electricity is about N350 to N400 per kilowatt-hour for those connected to the gas grid. For diesel, it is about N950 while petrol is about N550,” he said.

ELECTRICITY: Adelabu laments, says mass customers abandon national grid to generate own power first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.