Why FG should remove electricity subsidy —Power Minister
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has proposed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration ensure removal of electricity subsidy for effective utilisations of energy in the country.
Adelabu said this while expressing concerns over the poor electricity supply situation in the country caused by numerous issues including outstanding subsidy debts.
He advocated that Nigeria should migrate to a full cost-reflective tariff regime if the federal government cannot pay for subsidies owed to the marketers.
The minister disclosed these on Wednesday when he visited the 750 megawatts (mw) Olorunsogo Power Generating Plant in Ogun State and the 500mw Omotosho Generating Plant in Ondo State as part of his nationwide inspection visit to power installations of the federal government.
Adelabu also stated that the National Independent Power Plants, NIPPs, being operated and managed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Plc, NDPHC, were currently suffering under-capacity utilisation of below 25 per cent due to gas supply constraints.
“We have been to Olorunsogo and we are now in the Omotosho Power Plant. These are big power plants. I am impressed with the size and the technology of the power plants here. Their operational history is also impressive,” he said.
“And I am amazed at the level of underutilisation of these power installations. Each of them operates below 25 per cent capacity, when we are still complaining that power generation is low in this country. The under-capacity utilisation is due to a variety of reasons.
“The major part of it is the shortage in gas supply to these installations, which is why I needed to see these plants myself, to look at what can we do to improve the operational capacity of these plants.”
Speaking about turbines to generate more power for the country, he said, “What can we do to support these power plants to operate at impressive capacity, so that power supply will improve nationwide?”
