The Federal Government says it is developing a policy on small-scale hydro projects to convert 21 idle dams discovered along the Sokoto-Badagry Road into commercially viable energy projects.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the launch of the Renewable Energy Asset Management Company.
Tegbe said the discovery of the dams during the ongoing construction of the Sokoto-Badagry Road raised concerns about why the facilities had remained unused for many years.
He said the Federal Government was determined to put the infrastructure to productive use.
According to the minister, President Bola Tinubu has given him the mandate to ensure that the dams are utilised.
Tegbe said the proposed small-scale hydro policy would provide a framework for converting the 21 dams into commercially viable projects.
The plan, he explained, forms part of the Federal Government’s broader effort to optimise public assets and ensure that existing infrastructure contributes to economic development.
The minister also said the government was identifying areas where power assets had become stranded or remained idle.
He said the government planned to channel available electricity to locations with higher demand, including Lagos, Kano and Borno.
Tegbe further disclosed that the Federal Government was working on grid stabilisation across three major energy zones.
The identified corridors include the Lagos axis, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridor and the Enugu-Port Harcourt corridor.
He said technical audits were currently being carried out to assess the condition of electricity infrastructure across the corridors.
The audits, according to him, will identify damaged equipment, including broken insulators, faulty conductor relays and collapsed transmission towers.
Tegbe said the government would begin replacing ageing and damaged infrastructure after completing the assessment.
He noted that some of the equipment being examined had been in use for about 42 years.
The minister said the Federal Government had no plans to sell its power assets.
Instead, he said the government would place the assets on a stronger financial footing and use them to attract funding for further investment.
Tegbe said the new renewable energy asset management model was designed to improve the way public infrastructure was managed.
He said Nigeria had continued to face the challenge of unreliable electricity despite having significant energy resources and installed power infrastructure.
According to him, the government’s ambition goes beyond ending grid collapses.
He said the Federal Government wanted electricity infrastructure to support industrial growth, manufacturing and the development of digital infrastructure.
Tegbe also promised improved grid stability and said Nigerians would enjoy a more reliable power supply.
The minister added that the government was targeting an increase in wheeling capacity from about 5,000 megawatts currently to 6,500 megawatts by the end of 2026.
He said the target would increase further to 8,000 megawatts by the end of 2027.
