WorldStage Newsonline– The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Power, is targeting distribution of two million meters annually in the next five years as the procurement process had started.
The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu said during the 6th Edition of the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing Series in Abuja the ministry would deploy 1.1 million meters by the end of 2025.
According to him, through the World Bank-funded Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP), over 3.2 million meters will be procured and installed alongside meter data management solutions for Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) optimisation.
“The first batch of 75,000 meters under the International Competitive Bid 1 (ICB1) arrived in April, with 200,000 more expected in May,‘’ he said.
Adelabu said that under the renewable energy, rural electrification and energy transition, the country had continued to lead on renewable initiatives by powering sustainable development while bridging the energy access gap.
He said that in the first quarter of 2025, the Federal Government accelerated its transition to clean energy solutions while bringing electricity to underserved communities through innovative off-grid systems.
“These efforts align with our commitment to climate action, energy security and inclusive growth, ensuring that no Nigerian is left behind in our journey toward a sustainable energy future,‘’ he said.
According to him, through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) the Federal Government, under the Energising Education Programme (EEP), was designed to provide a reliable power supply to 37 Federal Universities and seven affiliated teaching hospitals across Nigeria.
Adelabu said that the EEP phases 1 and 2 implemented in collaboration with the World Bank had been successfully completed, adding that the EEP 3, implemented in collaboration with AFDB is about 70 per cent completed.
He said that the projects would collectively add a total of 100 Megawatts (MW) of clean energy to electricity generated.
Adelabu said that another remarkable initiative of the power sector was the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project, which is a 750 million dollars initiative funded by the World Bank.
“ The project also aim to scale up Nigeria’s energy access gap by providing new or improved electricity supplies to more than 17.5 million Nigerians.
“This initiative aims to increase access to electricity services for households and small and medium businesses with private sector-led distributed renewable energy generation and encourage Productive Use of Energy (PUE).
“The proposed project is a part of the World Bank’s comprehensive, programmatic engagement in Nigeria’s power sector to help the Federal Government realise its ambitious Energy Transition Plan (ETP) vision, ‘’ he said..
The minister said that through the Africa Mini-grid Programme, the Federal Government had secured 5.91 million dollars in grants for 23 projects.
He said that the Federal Government had also signed an agreement with Oando Clean Energy for a 1.2 gigawatt solar plant with panel recycling capabilities.
He said that the signing of the agreement was to ensure that the country do not just consume solar technology but participates in its full life cycle.
