The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has lamented the rate at which bulk electricity consumers abandon the national grid to generate their own electricity.
Adelabu emphasised that grid connection as a power source is more reliable than captive power plants currently being used by bulk electricity consumers.
He regretted that despite generating a record 5,155MW, it is not being taken up.
The minister spoke on Thursday at the Board retreat of the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company in Lagos.
He said, “The majority of bulk electricity users, such as industries, are off the grid due to lack of trust and confidence in the past.
“They now have their own captive power plants in their industries which is more expensive.”
According to him, the continued use of captive power rather than grid connection is more expensive.
“The average cost of producing captive power is about N350 to N400 per kilowatt-hour for those connected to gas lines. For diesel, it’s about N950 while petrol is about N550,” he said.
He stated that efforts would be made to encourage such bulk users to return to the grid.