The Federal Government has set an ambitious target to boost Nigeria’s power grid capacity by 4,000 megawatts (MW) by 2026 through Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu revealed on April 20, 2025.
Speaking at a power sector briefing in Abuja, Adelabu outlined plans to enhance generation, transmission, and distribution, addressing chronic outages that have plagued the nation. The initiative builds on a $23.2 billion energy program unveiled in January 2025, with $15.5 billion expected from private investors, aiming to electrify 150 million people by 2030, per Punch. Current grid capacity hovers around 4,500MW, far below South Korea’s 130,000MW for 49 million people, Adelabu noted, citing global benchmarks.
The plan includes deploying 10 power transformers and 22 new transmission substations, part of the Siemens project’s pilot phase, with equipment already in-country. However, vandalism, like the Shiroro-Kaduna line sabotage affecting 17 northern states, remains a hurdle, costing billions in losses, per Leadership.
Adelabu proposed solar lights and CCTV on highways to deter bandits, alongside digital tools like SCADA systems for real-time grid monitoring. Critics highlight 108 grid collapses since 2013 privatization, with 2024 seeing eight, not 12 as misreported, per Adelabu’s Senate testimony. Skeptics doubt the 4,000MW target, given past failures to hit 6,000MW in 2024, but supporters see EPC contracts as a game-changer.