The Federal Government of Nigeria has targeted January 2027 to begin a comprehensive overhaul of the national electricity grid, aiming to replace ageing infrastructure to improve power supply. Power Minister Joseph Tegbe disclosed the timeline on Monday during an interview on a TVC television programme, stating that the exercise is expected to commence within the next one to two months.
Tegbe explained that the initiative follows a technical audit of the power sector designed to identify specific facilities and equipment requiring repair or replacement. He noted that President Bola Tinubu is “extremely supportive” of the efforts to modernize the grid. The minister identified transmission as the sector’s biggest constraint, highlighting that some of the country’s transmission lines have been in operation for as long as 50 years.
“So in the next one or two months, we will commence infrastructure replacement across our grid. President Tinubu is extremely supportive of what we are doing,” Tegbe said.
Preliminary findings from the ongoing technical audit have revealed faults in various components of the transmission infrastructure, including towers, insulators, and conductor relays. Tegbe emphasized the importance of the audit in ensuring that available funds are directed toward the most critical areas rather than being spent on less urgent repairs. “What you don’t want to do is start spending money on insulators when you are meant to fix a conductor relay. Now we’re getting a clear picture,” he added.
Beyond transmission, the minister addressed challenges within the gas supply chain that are limiting electricity generation. While acknowledging that Nigeria possesses sufficient natural gas reserves, Tegbe pointed to financial and operational constraints, specifically outstanding debts owed to electricity generation companies (GenCos), as key obstacles. He stated that these issues affect the availability of gas to power plants, despite the nation’s comparative advantage in gas resources.
Tegbe revealed that the Federal Government has begun addressing the debt burden, which he put at N3.3 trillion. According to the minister, N1.23 trillion has been paid in recent months, leaving approximately N2 trillion outstanding, which the government hopes to resolve next year. He urged relevant agencies to collaborate on improving supply rather than engaging in disagreements over the causes of recent declines in power generation, which the Nigerian Independent System Operator had partly attributed to limited gas availability and reduced water inflows for hydroelectric stations.
The minister concluded that addressing gas supply chain constraints, upgrading transmission infrastructure, and replacing obsolete generation plants are essential steps to strengthening the country’s electricity supply. The government is currently in the process of replacing some ageing generation facilities with newer equipment to support these broader improvements.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
