Chukwueloka Umeh, an engineer and power company executive, speaks about Nigeria's broken power value chain and suggests the way forward for the industry.
A player in Nigeria’s power sector, Chukwueloka Umeh, an engineer, breaks down the problems facing the industry.
We produce power at GenCos and transmit the power on transmission lines , then it takes it to the distribution companies . Then we talk about distribution. We do not have enough distribution capacity in Nigeria. That simply means those wires going into houses, factories, companies are not enough. Some are old. The transformers that we have are not enough to carry the amount of power we need to go all around the country. A lot of work needs to be done. A lot of houses, factories don’t have a meter and you can’t even tell what they are consuming.And you hear people talking about the tariff.
Today in Nigeria, we have enough transmission lines only to move about 5500 MW of power. That is nothing compared to the population we have in the country. Then there is also the issue where people start to say ‘we will only pay you more money when you give us 24/7 power’. So its a chicken and egg situation. Do we have more power first before you are willing to pay more? Or do you start paying more before they give you the power?
You will find if people start paying the right tariff, that we will develop what we call energy responsibility. You will use only what you can pay for. Just like your cell phone, you wouldn’t make a call and leave it on even if you are not talking, just leave it running. You wouldn’t do that because that’s money being wasted. In the same way, we need to start doing the same thing in the power sector.
Some of us have signed agreements as far back as 2015. Those agreements today are not even worth the scrap of paper they are signed on. NERC, the regulatory body that is supposed to guide the power sector, said that by 2020 we will have about 20,000 MW of alternative power running in Nigeria, mostly solar, and the question you will ask is how many MW of solar and installation do we have in Nigeria? Probably not up to one MW.
And the tariff should be whatever we are able to negotiate amongst each other. Guess what? If we have a market that is fully open, people in the Eko Disco network should be able to buy power not just form the Eko Disco but from other power traders within that locality.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Nigeria Immigration Service must be probed - Reps member, Akande-Sadipe - Daily Post NigeriaThe Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe has called on the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, to
Read more »
Why we need to calm down, by Femi Adesina | The Nation NigeriaThere’s this hilarious video that went viral recently. A boy had offended his mother, and was about to get a beating. Tearfully, even before he got...
Read more »
Why Obaseki should be investigated, by APC - The Nation Nigeria NewsThe Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday asked the anti-graft bodies to investigate the Afriinvest owned by Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Read more »
Why, how Edo Deputy Speaker was removed | The Nation NigeriaImpeached Edo Deputy Speaker Yekini Idaiye was removed by seven pro-Governor Godwin Obaseki in Government House, Benin for allegedly...
Read more »
BBNaija 2020: Why I changed my attitude - Praise - Daily Post NigeriaBig Brother Naija, BBNaija housemate, Praise has revealed the reason for his change of attitude in the house. Praise was among those housemates with least
Read more »
Why we have security problem in the north - Matawalle - Daily Post NigeriaGovernor Bello Mohammed Matawalle of Zamfara State has lamented that the north would continue to have the problem of insecurity due to lack of respect for
Read more »