Investors ready to construct 100 megawatts solar plants in each Northern state – Minister

He stressed the need to have alternative sources of energy in the Northern states and specifically recommended solar energy.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said some investors have expressed readiness to construct 100-megawatt solar plants in each Northern Nigerian state as a long-term solution to the region’s electricity challenges.

Mr Adelabu disclosed this on Tuesday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Power to address the country’s poor power supply and propose an immediate solution to the blackout in many northern Nigerian states.

He stressed the need to have alternative sources of energy in the Northern states and specifically recommended solar energy.

“We need to start embracing alternative sources of energy. And the one that is easily implementable, given our natural resources today, is the solar energy. And this North that we are talking about, they are very, very blessed with good sunshine. Out of the 19 or 20 states in the north, the least is 10 hours of daily sunlight. So solar is possible. So, what we are trying to do is, using our distributed power model, we intend and we have made progress in this.

“We have seen investors that are ready to establish 100 megawatts of power in each of the 19 or 20 states in the northern part of Nigeria. And we have seen that this is an achievable project. They will not even start with the 100 because of the funds and resources required. Let’s start with 50 megawatts for each of the states,” he said.

The minister had expressed a similar view after he briefed President Bola Tinubu on Monday about the cause of the blackout in the northern states.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that some of the places where the damage occurred are communities where armed bandits operate. The bandits routinely kill and kidnap residents and travellers in such communities.

Aside from vandalism of transmission lines, poor maintenance of electricity infrastructure has been one of the major causes of poor power supply in the country.

Blackout to be restored in two days

Mr Adelabu also reiterated that the total power outage in the northern states would be restored in the next two or three days.

He said the ministry has adopted an alternative route to resolve the challenges.

“The blackout that currently exists in the north in the last few days, we are arresting it immediately. There is an alternative route that we are activating. So I can assure you, within the next two to three days, before Friday, electricity will be restored to the north. That is the first commitment.”