JUST IN: “We have old infrastructure; national grid over 50 years old,” says Power Minister
By Kunle Sanni
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, attributed recurring grid collapses in Nigeria to outdated infrastructure that has been in place for over five decades.
Adelabu made this statement on Monday while briefing reporters at the State House after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
“The truth is, we have old infrastructure,” Adelabu explained. “Our national grid is more than 50 years old, with weakened transmission lines, deteriorating towers, and aging substations and transformers. The transformer that recently exploded in Jeba, for example, was 47 years old. While efforts are underway to revamp and replace these components, such changes cannot happen overnight.”
From Monday, October 14, to Saturday, October 19, 2024, the national grid collapsed three times, plunging the nation into darkness. The outages began on October 14 when the grid shut down entirely.
Emphasizing the grid’s poor condition, Adelabu likened it to an aging, unreliable vehicle, saying, “It’s like having a rickety car; breakdowns are inevitable. Our ongoing effort is to manage the grid and minimize disruptions until a complete overhaul can ensure reliability.”
Looking toward future solutions, Adelabu highlighted plans to establish a “super grid” as an alternative transmission route, which would serve as a backup in case of disruptions to the national grid. “If the national grid encounters issues, there will be an alternative route through which power can be transmitted,” he said.
Adelabu also stressed the importance of decentralizing the grid to create regional networks that are insulated from each other, preventing localized issues from causing nationwide outages. “The world has moved beyond centralized grids,” he noted. “We must establish state grids, so each region is insulated from the others.”
