02 May 2013, Abuja – The Federal Government has said it is no longer possible for it to attain 10,000 megawatts electricity generating capacity this year.
The government had a plan to achieve this target in December, but, Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, said the target was no longer attainable due to delay in some of the engineering works by contractors handling national independent power projects, NIPPs.
The Minister, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja, set the new target for achieving 10,000mw for the first quarter of 2014.
Nebo also disclosed that N77 billion would be required to close the metering gap of 2.5 million in the country, adding that until this was addressed, the incidences of power theft and excess billings from distribution companies might persist.
Pleading with Nigerians to be patient with the government to see ongoing recovery works at the Kainji and Jebba dams, and NIPPs come to fruition, he said the NIPPs would add fresh capacity to the national power grid.
He maintained that Nigeria needed a smart transmission grid that will be able to transmit all power generated to the distribution companies, which was the reason why the federal government has contracted Manitoba Hydro International to manage the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN.