Section 1 Electricity Act 2023

Section 1 of the Electricity Act 2023 is about Objectives of the Act. It is under Part I (Preliminary Provisions) of the Act.

The primary objective of this Act is to provide a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to guide the operation of a privatised, contract and rule-based competitive electricity market in Nigeria and attract through transformative policy and regulatory measures, private sector investments in the entire power value chain of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (in this Act referred to as “the NESI”’), and specifically, the
Act seeks to achieve the following objectives —

(a) provide an ideal legal and institutional framework to leverage on the modest gains of the privatisation phase of electric power sector in Nigeria to accelerate growth in power generation capacity and improve utilisation
of generated power through increased investments in new and efficient power generation technology and revamping existing power plants,

(b) promote policy and regulatory measures to ensure the expansion of power transmission networks in Nigeria to address any imbalance in the existing transmission infrastructure;

(c) stimulate policy and regulatory measures to generally scale up efficient power generation, transmission, and distribution capabilities of the power sector in Nigeria with a view to achieve a national electricity access targets and attaining the highest per capita power consumption in Africa within a reasonable time frame;

(d) stipulate consequential, transitional and saving provisions regarding reforms made under the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, No. 6, 2005 in this Act referred to as “the Repealed Act”);

(e) provide clear guide and legal basis for a phase-wide development of the Nigerian electricity supply industry since the conclusion of the privatisation phase as implemented under the provisions of the Repealed Act;

(f) promote the development of a competitive electricity market;

(g) stimulate policy measures that will attract investments across the Nigerian electricity value chain to re energise economic growth, drive job creation and improve the living conditions of Nigerians;

(h) provide a clear legal and institutional framework for the formulation and adoption of a National Integrated Electricity Policy and Implementation Plan;

(i) stimulate policies to address technology limitation and outdated infrastructure that are responsible for value chain losses in the NESI by attracting sustainable investments in new and efficient power generation technology and revamping existing power plants;

(j) eliminate through policy and regulatory measures, barriers to investments in generation, transmission, distribution, and related sub-sectors in the electricity industry in Nigeria:

(k) promote policies and regulatory measures to increase geographic coverage in power generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity in Nigeria:

(l) provide a framework to stimulate the development and utilisation of renewable energy sources and create an enabling environment to attract investment in renewable energy sources in order to increase the contribution of renewable energy to the energy mix;

(m) provide a framework for improvement of access to electricity in rural, unserved, underserved, peri-urban and urban areas through the use of conventional sources and renewable energy off-grid and mini-grid solutions:

(n) promote indigenous capacity in technology for renewable energy sources through a framework for local content in the Nigerian electricity supply industry;

(o) promote public education on renewable energy production and consumption to increase the generation and consumption of electricity from renewable sources:

(p) recognise third-party investments in NESI infrastructure by the private and public sectors;

(q) provide a clear framework for cross-border electricity trade in the interest of national security and energy self-sufficiency;

(t) promote frameworks for security of electricity infrastructure, prescribe effective punitive measures against electricity theft and other offences peculiar to the NESI; and

(s) strengthen the relationship between federal electricity market and state electricity market.