Osinbajo Blast DisCos For Underperforming
By Olu Osikoya, Abeokuta
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Thursday berated the Power Distribution Companies, DisCos, accusing them of underperforming.
Speaking at the commissioning, Osinbajo said the 11 DisCos were only able to distribute 4,000MW or less out of 7,000 generated.
He lamented that “despite all the availability of about 8,000MW of generation and 7,000MW of transmission capacity, the lack of DISCO infrastructure to absorb and deliver grid power to end-users has largely restricted generation to an average of about 4,000MW, and sometimes even falling below 4,000MW.”
According to him, “It is evident that despite all the efforts that have been put in to expand the grid, the structure of the market today cannot deliver on the government’s promises to provide power for domestic and industrial use.
‘ A substantial change of strategy is necessary. There is clearly a need for a change of strategy. What we have done in the past has taken us to a point where there is clearly a change of strategy.”
Osinbajo, who identified the inability of DISCOs to meter consumers as one of the constraints, explained that opening up of the power space to investors was needed at this point.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo, stated that 30 major National Independent Power Projects, NIPPs ere inherited by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had been completed between 2015 and 2019.
