Power challenges, solutions – WAPIC 2016
The West Africa Power Industry Convention, WAPIC took place in Lagos last week with interactive programme that reflected the dynamic energy landscape of the region.
The 13th yearly convention attracted power professionals, experts and industry stalwarts.
The two-day event had side attractions such as the third edition of West Africa Power Industry Awards, exhibitions from both local and international power companies, screening of documentary, ‘Nowhere to Run’ produced by the Yar’Adua Foundation, West Africa Women in Power luncheon, Roundtable think tank exercise, and the Gas to Power conference track and training.
Speakers at the convention included Managing Director, Spintelligent, South Africa, David Ashdown; Chief Architect, Huawei Nigeria, Olayemi Joseph; Chairman, House Committee on Power, House of Representatives, Hon. Effiong Asuquo Daniel; and acting Chairman /CEO, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Anthony Akah.
Speaking, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Eyinnaya Abaribe; and Hon. Asukwo both asked Nigerians to banish the thought that power is a free commodity. According to them, metre bypass and power theft and non-payment of electricity bills have become big problems which should be addressed as soon as possible in the country.
“We have to tell ourselves the truth. Nigerians still see electricity as a free commodity. That is why we keep having power theft, metre bypasses, and even non-payment of electricity bills. The truth is, if electricity will be free or subsidized, the government has to put money into it ; but no, government has stopped taking any part since privatization,” they said.
Power theft, meter bypass and non-payment are terms the distribution companies are yet to come to terms with especially since privatization of the power sector.
The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distribution Companies, ANEDC recently said for Nigeria to have 24 hours electricity, each home must be ready to pay between N9000 and N10,000 monthly.
Spokesman for ANEDC, Sunday Oduntan, made the comment while addressing the solution to stable electricity in the country.
In view of this, Oduntan said Nigeria should “forget about uninterrupted power supply for now.”
“We have a long way to go to where we ought to be,” he said. Continuing,he said “even if we are going to have stable power supply, each home should be ready to pay between N9000 and N10,000 monthly.”
Recently, the Association of Power Generation Companies also said the country needs 180 million megawatts of electricity.
According to its Executive Secretary, Dr. Joy Ogaji,
“The rule of thumb for an industrial nation is about 1MW for every thousand of the population. This puts Nigeria’s energy needs in about 180,000MW range given its population of about 180 million. The Federal Government has a target of 40,000MW by the year 2020.”
“It is not about projecting the megawatts, we should also put other building blocks which go with generating the megawatts such as a firm, independent and knowledgeable regulator, a default-proof payment plan, firm payment guarantees, and incentives for investors. In summary, government should be providing an enabling environment and avoiding interference, focusing on policies and giving direction.”
“More often than not, the generating companies have sufficient generated power available, without the capacity to transmit and distribute to the final consumers, all the effort is wasted. That is the scenario; that is the basic dilemma the industry faces.
