Nigeria Power Sector Achieves Capacity Milestone Amid Investment Growth

Nigeria reached a peak on-grid capacity exceeding 7,000MW through significant policy actions last year, including N701billion payments to Generation Companies, declarations of eligible customers, the Power Sector Recovery Programme, and increased transmission investments.

The Azura Edo-IPP project, a 450MW facility, came online seven months ahead of schedule three weeks ago, marking Nigeria’s first such power generation project in its history.

Analysts indicate that ongoing reforms and policy progress could attract additional investments in offgrid power generation, though the sector faces liquidity challenges as new projects come online.

Woleme Esan, partner at Olaniwun Ajaiye, warned that the power sector’s liquidity crisis may intensify in 2018 due to the front runner IPP becoming operational and NBET’s limited distribution company receipts being shared among more generation companies.