FG targets 30% uninterrupted power in hospitals by 2027

The Federal Government has unveiled a major investment-led initiative to tackle persistent electricity shortages in hospitals, targeting at least 30 percent uninterrupted power supply across healthcare facilities by 2027 under the Nigeria Power for Health Initiative (NPHI).

The programme was launched on Monday at the National Healthcare Electrification Investor Matchmaking Forum in Lagos by Iziaq Adekunle Salako, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, and Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, the Minister of Power.

Salako said the initiative marks a shift from policy discussions to concrete investments aimed at addressing energy poverty in the health sector.

“Energy poverty is holding back our reforms and slowing down our healthcare transformation agenda,” he said.

He noted that unreliable electricity continues to undermine healthcare delivery, affecting critical services such as operating theatres, cold chain systems, diagnostic equipment, blood banks, incubators and emergency response operations.

“Electricity is not merely a utility in a healthcare facility. When electricity fails, healthcare delivery stagnates,” Salako said.

According to him, rising diesel costs, voltage fluctuations and unstable grid supply have placed enormous financial pressure on hospitals, with energy expenses consuming a significant share of healthcare budgets.

The minister disclosed that the NPHI was developed following extensive consultations involving stakeholders from the health, power, finance and environmental sectors, and has been approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the national framework for healthcare electrification.

Under the initiative, healthcare facilities will no longer own and manage energy infrastructure directly. Instead, private sector Energy Service Providers will supply power under an Energy-as-a-Service model designed to ensure long-term sustainability.

“Too often, systems were procured, commissioned and celebrated, only to deteriorate due to weak maintenance and lack of lifecycle financing. The NPHI is designed to break that cycle,” Salako said.

While the first phase will focus on federal tertiary hospitals, the programme is expected to expand to secondary, primary and private healthcare facilities nationwide.

To drive implementation, the government has established an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee, a 24-member Inter-Agency Technical Committee, Facility Energy Management Teams and a dedicated project secretariat within the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

The minister also acknowledged support from the UK Partnership for Accelerating Climate Transition (UK PACT) and Landell Mills International in developing the initiative.

Speaking at the forum, Tegbe described reliable electricity as fundamental to effective healthcare delivery.

“We are not merely discussing electricity; we are discussing saving lives and removing the impediment to quality healthcare delivery,” he said.

He explained that the programme aligns with the government’s power sector reform agenda and will combine grid enhancement, embedded generation, renewable energy systems and hybrid solutions tailored to the needs of health facilities.

Tegbe said the initiative also presents a significant investment opportunity for private sector players, given the scale of demand across Nigeria’s healthcare system.

“The market is not a projection. It is 35,000 facilities serving over 200 million Nigerians,” he said.

According to the minister, the government is moving away from unsustainable grant-funded infrastructure models and towards blended finance structures that combine public funding, private investment and development finance.

He added that the Electricity Act provides the regulatory framework needed to support healthcare electrification through power purchase agreements, mini-grid licensing and greater state-level participation.

The government is already deploying solar mini-grids and hybrid power systems in health facilities under existing programmes and plans to scale up implementation through the NPHI framework.

Tegbe said tertiary and secondary hospitals would be prioritised initially because of their larger patient volumes, while assuring that primary healthcare centres would also benefit through complementary interventions.

“We focus first on facilities that serve the larger population, but we are not excluding anyone in the health system,” he said.