FG: The Installation of Meters Will Produce 20,000 Jobs.

The Ministry of Power will begin the next phase of the nationwide installation of electricity meters in the new year, and the Federal Government has stated that at least 20,000 more jobs will be created as a result.

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The government made this known in a document on the review of last year’s performance of the power sector, Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, under the current administration. NewsReport gathered.

According to the document, the ministry would deploy six million meters across states in the first and second quarters of 2023 to minimize the number of unmetered electricity consumers in the country. It was revealed in the document obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power in Abuja on Sunday that the government executed a metering initiative post-privatization, with one million meters rolled out in the first phase of the National Mass Metering Programme in 2022.

In his report, the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) were fundamental in designing and implementing the program. He said, “We are perfecting plans for an additional six million meters under the second and third phases of the program that will commence in the first and second quarters of 2023, respectively.

“The first phase generated 10,000 jobs in installation and assembly, and we anticipate over 20,000 additional jobs will be generated in the second phase. “”Both the phases have sustainable financing structures.” Aliyu further revealed that the incumbent administration was also establishing a Meter Service Fund that would allow for continuous metering in the NESI.

The Minister assured that the government would bequeath to Nigerians 4,000 megawatts of additional generating capacity as it would complete and inaugurate the 700 MW Zungeru Hydropower Plant in the first quarter of 2023. His statement added: “We will also see to the operationalization of the 240 MW Afam III and 300 MW Okpai Phase II, to mention a few. We will put the country on a steady path toward supplying 10,000 MW of energy.

“Today we are at 8,000 MW, with 5,000 MW on-grid and 3,000 MW+ of industrial captive off-grid, and we will leave an installed capacity of almost 22,000 MW.” “We also have robust programs in place, with facilities and investments totalling more than $3 billion secured, to close the large gap between our transmission capacity and supplied energy.”

According to Aliyu, the hydropower component of the Kashimbilla Multipurpose Dam was designed and upgraded from 6 MW to 40 MW, with Phase I of the evacuation infrastructure completed in March 2020, covering 245 km of 132 kV transmission lines and three substations connecting Takum, Wukari, Rafin Kada, Dounga, and Yandev in Taraba and Benue states.

He stated that Phase II of the evacuation infrastructure is currently 45 percent complete, consisting of a 56-kilometer extension of the 132kV transmission line from Yandev to Makurdi and the complete rehabilitation of the Yandev substation, while Phase II of the evacuation infrastructure would result in the electrification of 24 host communities in Benue State, including Zaki-Biam, Anyi, Buruku, Birama, Bibi, Shibong, and others.

“We have changed the narrative of the sector from consumption spending (on subsidies) to real infrastructure spending.

“By upgrading the hydropower component of the Kashimbilla Multipurpose Dam, Aliyu has not only provided a reliable energy source to 24 host communities within Benue State but also changed the narrative of energy production in Nigeria from one that a total of 105 power transformer projects were completed during the period 2015–2022, adding a capacity of 6,216 MVA to the grid, with 73 of the power transformers installed by TCN engineers in substations across the nation,” the Minister added.