500MW Power Plant Set to Begin Operation as FG Mulls Tariff Hike
- The Alaoji Power Plant has been scheduled to return to the national grid in August 2025 after being off-grid for nearly two years.
- The managing director of the Niger Delta Holding Company (NDPHC), Jennifer Adighije, disclosed this recently during a visit to the plant
- Adighije’s announcement came as the Nigerian government is considering another hike in electricity tariffs
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Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Jennifer Adighije, has announced that the Alaoji Power Plant will return to the national grid in August 2025.
The power plant has been dormant for nearly two years, contributing to Nigeria's electricity woes despite its installed capacity of 500 megawatts.
Source: Getty Images
Improved availability across power plants
Adighije disclosed this during a high-level visit to the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) in Abuja, where she led an NDPHC delegation to strengthen collaboration with the newly unbundled transmission operator.
Her announcement comes as part of a broader strategy to recover dormant assets and ramp up generation.
In addition to Alaoji’s restart, Adighije revealed that another unit at the Omotosho Power Plant would be operational by the end of July.
Operational milestone for Nigeria’s grid
According to her, plant availability across NDPHC facilities has doubled in the past nine months, a notable achievement amid the sector's persistent challenges.
“We have improved our availability by 100% or more. We are still working to recover an additional unit in Omotosho and expect Alaoji to return in August,” she said.
According to a Punch report, the Alaoji restart will be a significant operational milestone. According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), many NDPHC-managed plants have been underperforming, with some generating less than 50% of their installed capacity.
The revival of Alaoji would help stabilise grid supply and reduce electricity deficits.
NDPHC pushes for fair dispatch, grid access
Adighije called for stronger synergy with NISO to ensure fair dispatch and improved access to the grid for government-owned power plants.
“Our realities differ from private GENCOs due to strict public procurement laws,” she said, requesting regulatory consideration to ease execution bottlenecks.
Massive investments across the power infrastructure
Highlighting NDPHC’s achievements, she noted the execution of over 50 330kV and 25 132kV substations, adding more than 9,000MVA of transformer capacity.
These efforts, she said, make NDPHC the largest public contributor to Nigeria’s power infrastructure.
In response, NISO's Managing Director, Abdul Bello Mohammed, pledged support for NDPHC’s generation optimisation and promised enhanced dispatch coordination and frequency control.
FG may increase electricity tariffs
A prior report by Legit.ng disclosed that the Nigerian government is considering raising electricity tariffs again to boost investors’ confidence in the power sector.
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, remarked on Tuesday that this is the only solution to the current liquidity crisis in the power sector.
While giving his address at the Mission 300 Stakeholders Engagement meeting in Abuja, Adelabu confirmed that the government had accumulated over N4 trillion in debt to the different power generation companies.
Source: Getty Images
He disclosed that several options are currently being explored to settle the debt owed to these companies and prevent a total collapse of the sector.
The minister stressed that the government is no longer capable of fully funding the electricity subsidy.
Benin, Togo risk power blackout over $11m debt
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigeria says two African countries, Benin and Togo, owe it for electricity supplied in the first quarter of 2025.
The report is according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The development comes despite receiving electricity via bilateral deals with generating electricity companies(GenCos) in Nigeria.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
