The Federal Government has commenced moves to provide dedicated electricity to industrial clusters, beginning with a 50-megawatt power project expected to supply round-the-clock electricity to manufacturers at the Idu Industrial Estate in Abuja.

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, said the initiative was part of the government’s broader industrialisation strategy aimed at reducing production costs, increasing local manufacturing and creating employment.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the project in Abuja, Enoh said unreliable electricity remained a major constraint on industrial productivity and that efforts to revive the sector would require addressing the country’s energy deficit.

He said the government’s industrial strategy was focused on local production, value addition, economic diversification and stronger integration of Nigerian industries into global markets.

According to him, increased domestic production would create employment opportunities, reduce dependence on imported goods, conserve foreign exchange and strengthen the economy against external disruptions.

Managing Director of Welbeck Electricity Distribution Limited, Afolabi Aiyela, said the project would initially generate 10MW from a site near the AKK gas pipeline in Zuba, with electricity transmitted through a 33kV line to the Idu Industrial Estate.

He said the remaining 40MW would be developed within the estate after the gas pipeline is extended to the area.

Aiyela said the industrial estate currently had potential electricity demand of between 300MW and 400MW, highlighting the scale of the power shortage facing manufacturers in the cluster.

The first phase of the project will prioritise Nigerian small and medium-sized enterprises and large indigenous companies, with subsequent phases expected to extend supply to other manufacturers in the estate.

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the government was adopting captive and decentralised power generation to connect electricity generation directly to industrial consumers.

Tegbe said technical audits were also being carried out on power infrastructure along major industrial corridors, including the Lagos industrial axis, Abuja-Kaduna corridor and Enugu-Onitsha axis.

He said the Lagos industrial corridor accounted for about 40 per cent of national electricity demand and that the government was targeting the creation or restoration of about 180,000 jobs in the corridor within six months through improved electricity supply.

The minister, however, said addressing Nigeria’s power challenges would require sustained investment across the electricity value chain, from gas supply and generation to transmission and distribution.

He also identified vandalism and energy theft as major threats to investment in the sector, while noting that the government was considering options such as extending gas pipelines to industrial locations or generating electricity in gas-rich areas for transmission to industrial centres.