Power Ministry to spend N150bn on PPI transmission projects in 2025 budget
The Federal Ministry of Power has allocated N150 billion for transmission projects under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI). This provision is included in the 2025 Appropriation Bill, which was recently presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.
The PPI is one of several initiatives and bilateral partnerships aimed at addressing Nigeria’s longstanding power challenges. It is a project led by the Federal Government, with technical and financial support from the German government, designed to modernise and expand the country’s power grid. The initiative was first conceived in 2018 by then-President Muhammadu Buhari and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The PPI aims to boost Nigeria’s power generation to 6,000 MW by the end of 2024. Its broader objectives include improving the reliability and sustainability of the country’s power supply and enabling the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) to achieve commercial autonomy.
The implementation of the PPI is divided into three phases, as outlined by the Federal Government’s Power Company, which is responsible for its execution.
The first phase focuses on increasing operational capacity to 7 GW, involving upgrades to substations, the installation of new substations and transformers, and the deployment of smart metering systems. This phase is described as focusing on “quick win” measures.
The second phase will aim to increase the capacity of the transmission and distribution systems, enabling the evacuation of up to 11 GW of electricity to end-users. The final phase will focus on further expanding the power grid’s capacity to 25 GW, through the enhancement of generation, transmission, and distribution systems.
In September 2024, the federal government announced an $800 million investment under the PPI to upgrade the power sector. According to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, this investment is expected to increase Nigeria’s power generation to 6,000 MW by the end of 2024 and reach 25,000 MW by the end of 2025.
The investment will also be directed towards constructing super and mini-grids and will be extended to the country’s Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), with the aim of helping them upgrade their services.
