Former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, has highlighted that Nigeria needs a minimum of 100,000 megawatts of power to meet its growing energy demands and drive industrial and economic growth.

Speaking on Arise TV, Nnaji stressed the inadequacy of the country’s current energy infrastructure.“As we are now, the transmission infrastructure is simply not going to be able to carry the required power in the nation. We need at least 100,000MW of power here to be available, not just merely installed, to be able to serve this country,” he stated.

Nnaji pointed out that the success of the Federal Government’s National Integrated Electricity Policy lies in effectively expanding power generation, upgrading transmission infrastructure, and ensuring cost-reflective tariffs to sustain investment.

“If we want to have electricity, it must be paid for, there is no place where electricity comes free in the world. But it must be affordable, that is, it must be cost-reflective,” Nnaji added, emphasizing that a pricing system should balance affordability and sustainability.

He also expressed skepticism about the immediate ban on solar panel imports, suggesting that a transition period is necessary, as Nigeria currently lacks the capacity to locally produce enough panels to meet the demand.

“We have an abundance of natural gas, we need to capitalise on this availability by producing this gas to be able to use that to build power plants,” Nnaji concluded, advocating for a balanced energy mix that incorporates both natural gas and renewable energy sources.