Nigerian Power Minister Calls for Regional Grids to Tackle Persistent Outages
Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has called for the establishment of regional and state power grids to address the country’s persistent grid collapses. Speaking at the launch of Hexing Livoltek, an electricity meter manufacturing company in Lagos on Wednesday, Adelabu stressed that the centralisednational grid, in its current form, is ill-equipped to meet the country’s growing energy demands.
Adelabu acknowledged that Nigeria’s outdated power infrastructure makes grid collapses almost unavoidable. “We all rely on a single national grid today. If there is a disturbance on the national grid, it affects all 36 states. It shouldn’t be like that,” he said, advocating for the creation of smaller, decentralisedgrids across different regions and states.
The minister pointed to the Electricity Act, signed by President Bola Tinubu in 2023, as a key enabler of this shift, allowing subnational governments to participate in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. “This will enable us to move gradually towards having regional groups and, possibly, state grids,” he explained. “Each of these grids will be shielded from each other, so if one fails, only the affected area will experience outages, not the entire nation.”
Adelabu also highlighted the pressing need for substantial investment to overhaul the nation’s power infrastructure, which he described as “deplorable.” The minister noted that without such investment, grid failures—whether total, partial, or momentary trip-offs—will continue. “Why won’t you have collapses when you’re dealing with infrastructure that’s 50 or 60 years old? Until we upgrade, grid collapses will remain a reality,” he said.
However, Adelabu took a more optimistic tone when discussing recent grid performance, noting that there had been no collapses in the past four months until a minor, brief outage earlier this week. He emphasised the government’s focus on improving response times to minimise the impact of future incidents.
The minister also commended Hexing Livoltek’s investment in Nigeria, noting that it marked a significant milestone in reducing the country’s reliance on imported electricity meters. He praised the company’s commitment to local content and job creation, hailing the factory launch as a key achievement in Nigeria’s journey towards a more stable and equitable power sector.
Robert Liang, CEO of Hexing Group, expressed optimism about the company’s expansion into Nigeria. “This is more than just an office; it’s a step towards a future where clean energy drives the growth of this great nation,” he said. Liang underscored Hexing’s three decades of experience in smart energy systems and solar technology, positioning the company as a leader in the region’s push towards cleaner, more efficient energy solutions.
