By Obas Esiedesa
IN the seven years of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the average power generation fell by 1.7 percent to 3,556MW in 2022, from 3,619 Megawatts recorded in 2016, latest industry data has indicated.
A yearly breakdown of industry data published by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), showed that average generation dropped by 9.4 percent in 2017 to 3,276MW when compared to 2016.
It rose marginally in 2018 by 3.2 per cent to 3,382MW and grew further by 13 per cent to 3,826MW in 2019.
It grew further by 5.95 per cent in 2020 to 4,054MW but fell by 2.9 per cent to 3,936MW in 2021, before rebounding by 9.66 per cent to 3,556MW in 2022.
Sector has solid foundation for growth —FG
Despite the abysmal data, the Federal Government has insisted that progress has been made to expand transmission and distribution networks over the years.
The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu said with the new 700 Megawatts capacity Zungeru Hydro Power plant which was constructed at the cost of $1.2 billion been connected to the National Grid System, supply will improve remarkably in the coming weeks.
While expressing optimism that the power sector is primed for growth, he pointed out that a solid structure has been laid by the outgoing administration.
He noted that progress has been made across the sector, adding: “today the Zungeru Hydro Electric Power Plant has become a reality. We have today joined the grid with 700MW. The testing started last night and the information reaching us is that the 700MW has gone on the grid.
“The Kashimbilla Electric project which is a joint project with the Ministry of Water Resources has also been completed. The line bring electricity to Yendev in Benue State, over 240km is also completed and commissioned”.
On the Siemens Power Project, the Minister said significant progress has been made with the installation of two mega transformers ongoing.
He observed that when he arrived at the Ministry in 2021, he met the Siemens project “almost at standstill and so with the collaboration of other players, we were able to get it moving again. Today one of the transformers is in Ajah, Lagos. We have just cleared the mobile substation, which is a massive infrastructure. We have ten of them”.
Flawed market design responsible for lack of growth—Expert
Speaking to Vanguard on why the sector has seemingly defied all government policies aimed at improving supply, Electricity Market Analyst, Mr. Lanre Elatuyi, said flawed market design has been the bane of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
Mr. Elatuyi observed that while generation companies have worked hard to improve their machines and boost capacity availability, the inability of distribution companies’ to off-take loads and make remittance to the market means the sector has failed to grow since it was privatised in 2013.
“The DisCos reject loads at will and there are no consequences. There are no incentives to improve”, he added.
According to him, inefficiency and high ATC&C losses of the distribution companies’ mean the sector is practically broke, “Money is not coming in”, he observed.
He said: “The first point is, are the DisCos able to distribute 5,000MW and remit 100 percent of the invoice? The answer is no, they cannot. The starting point would have been to find out the actual network capacity of the DisCos. Besides Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan, the capacity of the other DisCos is very poor and they are not doing well.
“There is a big issue with network reliability and because of this most industrial consumers are not on the grid. Their machines are frequency sensitive, and frequency deviations from nominal values cause damage to industrial machines, and also to generating plants thus increasing their maintenance costs”.
He urged the new government of President Bola Tinubu to put in place a team of experts that include all stakeholders to guide it on the way forward for the sector.
Source: Vanguard
