Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has stressed the need for regional and state-level power grids in Nigeria to combat the country’s frequent grid collapses. Speaking on Wednesday at the unveiling of Hexing Livoltek, an electricity meter manufacturing company in Lekki, Lagos, Adelabu highlighted the fragile state of Nigeria’s power infrastructure, noting that grid failures are almost inevitable without significant investment.
Adelabu explained that decentralizing the power grid would promote stability, with the creation of multiple grids across regions and states preventing widespread blackouts. He pointed to the 2023 Electricity Act, signed by President Bola Tinubu, as a major enabler of this decentralization.
“The Electricity Act has decentralized power, allowing subnational governments to participate in generation, transmission, and distribution. Currently, we rely on a single national grid, and when it fails, all 36 states are affected. We need regional grids to prevent nationwide outages,” Adelabu said.
He further explained that this move would ensure that only the region or state affected by a grid issue would experience power disruptions, rather than the entire country.
Addressing grid collapses, the minister acknowledged that the aging power infrastructure, with some transformers over 50 years old, is prone to failures. He emphasized the need for substantial investment to overhaul the system and improve reliability.
Adelabu noted that while the national grid had been stable for four months, a partial collapse occurred earlier in the week but was resolved in under two hours.
During the unveiling, Adelabu praised Hexing Livoltek for its investment in Nigeria, especially at a time when other companies were pulling back. He described the launch of the meter factory as a crucial step toward reducing reliance on imports, boosting local content, and creating jobs.
Hexing Group CEO, Robert Liang, expressed enthusiasm about the company’s expansion into Nigeria, reaffirming the firm’s commitment to promoting clean energy and advancing smart energy systems across the country.
The national grid, which collapsed earlier this week, was fully restored by Wednesday evening.
