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Tag: Chinedu Nebo

  • Power generation to hit 10,000mw by Dec, says minister

    Power generation to hit 10,000mw by Dec, says minister

    The amount of power generated in Nigeria will hit 10,000 megawatts by December this year, the Federal Government has said.

    Government’s assurance yesterday was despite the erratic power supply witnessed across Nigeria in recent months.

    The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, who told an Indian delegation on power, stated that the Federal Government would soon summon a stakeholders’ forum of all electricity distribution and generation companies, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Nigerian Electricity Management Liability Company and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company.

    Nebo, according to a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Press, Federal Ministry of Power, Mr. Timothy Oyedeji, also said the government would hold the National Council on Power in August in order to look at measures to boost electricity supply to Nigerians, adding that “Nigeria will hit 10,000MW by the end of 2014.”

    The minister revealed that the Federal Government was considering a permanent nature for the NBET, and noted that the bulk trader was conceived as a stop-gap agency for the transitional stage of the power sector.

     

    “We might need to consider NBET a body that will outlast the current proposition. With the new thinking, NBET can be structured on a Public Private Partnership model that is permanent in nature, as electricity is always an ongoing concern,” he said.

     

    Speaking on behalf of Discos, the Chief Executive Officer, Eko Distribution Company, Oladele Amoda, told the delegation that what informed his firm’s technical arrangement with Tata of India was because India had kept faith with the transformation of its power sector since 2002.

     

    He enjoined the delegation to take seriously the issue of transfer of technology, insisting that Nigeria’s bulk electricity trader needs input in local content to fast-track the development of the country’s power market.

     

    According to Amoda, India’s model had helped Nigeria to transform it power sector.

     

    The Indian High Commissioner, AR Ghenashyam, assured that in no distant future Nigeria will not only develop a robust electricity market for it domestic use but will be a big player in the region.

     

    He said India recorded over 400 per cent leap in generation capacity in the last 10 years, adding that this was made possible because of the competitiveness of the market.

     

    Ghenashyam said Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan were already enjoying from seamless cross-border market and “this has further boosted confidence and credibility for investment flow into the power sector.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Govt may stop Katsina energy project over insecurity

    Govt may stop Katsina energy project over insecurity

    THE Federal Government is planning to stop the renewable energy project in Katsina State because of insecurity in the state, the Minister of Power Prof Chinedu Nebo has said.

    Nebo told The Nation that the project in the Northeastern state had been delayed for over one year due to the security challenges, lamenting that even the technical person handling it was kidnapped.

    Under this prevailing circumstance, he said the government was left with no  option but to stop the project.

    He said: ‘’There are problems relating to the implementation of the renewable energy projects in Katsina. “The major one is the kidnapping of the technical person handling the project a year ago. Those assigned to handle the project said they cannot go ahead, unless the security situation improves. “The Ministry of Power has stepped into the matter. We want to cancel the contract, in spite of the fact that it is 97 per cent completed. But, again, it is the security that has forced us down.‘’

    Nebo said the suppressed electricity demand is higher in the country what is being generated now.

    ‘’Right now, the suppressed demand in the country is so huge, compared to what we are generating. If we quadruple our generation and distribution capacity, it would not be enough for the whole country. In view of this, we are encouraging more Nigerians to build more plants to improve the supply of electricity and grow the economy,’’ he added.

    He stressed the need to create an enabling environment to grow the sector, stressing that more investors would come when there is a stable economic climate.

    He said the more plants are built, the less the pressure on them to produce certain amount of electricity. He explained that power from the grid was falling, due to gas problem in the country.

    “The sector is experiencing gas problem, a development that culminated in the ability of the power generation companies (GENCOs) to generate electricity and further distribute to the distribution companies (DISCOs),” he said.

    He said though the  Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Resources (NNPC), operators and other relevant agencies had waded into the matter to ensure that enough gas was supplied to fire the turbines for optimal performance, this has not yielded results.

  • Electricity: Let’s join hands to fight vandals

    SIR: Recently, Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo was quoted as saying that the country has lost about 2,100 megawatts of electricity in past few months as a result of vandalism of gas pipelines. According to a press release by the ministry in February, many gas facilities were vandalised. The Escravos-Lagos Pipeline (ELPS A), from Warri which supplies gas to Egbin Power Plant near Lagos was out for over seven months. A loss of 200 million standard cubic feet of gas and generation capacity of about 800MW was recorded. Second, the Trans-Forcados gas line also in Warri was out with a loss of 200 million standard cubic feet of gas and generation capacity of about 800MW. The Alakiri– Onne, Gas pipeline was blasted and it has adversely impacted on gas supply to generation stations. There have been similar attacks onthe Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), Gbaran-Ubie power plant in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State which is part of the gas liquid evacuation infrastructure, critical for continued domestic power generation for Afam VI Independent power plant. The temporary shutdown of the Chevron gas plant west of the Sombreiro River, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State on March 12, contributed to the low peak generation of 2,672MW.

    The draw-backs in economic and technological development in the nation could be principally attributed to this problematic electricity situation. Unfortunately it is in our character as Nigerians to regard government’s property as nobody’s property. This can be likened to the case of a goat owned by the community which eventually dies of hunger for lack of care and attention. Why should people look the other way when they see government property being destroyed, vandalised or stolen? The minister of power, security agencies or officials are not ubiquitous, thus, cannot be everywhere all the time to police these facilities.

    Therefore, communities who benefit from these government facilities have a duty to jealously guard and protect them. It is amazing to see cables, copper wires, insulators, or transformer oil being stolen from a substation. While these items may not worth N 20,000, the damage caused to the entire network often throws the entire community; sometimes states, into total darkness, and takes much time, energy and fund to fix. Vandals are not spirits, but human beings who live amongst us and continuously hide under the cover of darkness to perpetrate their heinous crime. They are unpatriotic Nigerians who chose to sabotage efforts of government in their own fatherland just for selfish purposes.

    The power sector cannot give the desired result neither can it impact positively on Nigerians if vandals continue to steal installed facilities and deny gas supply to generation stations.

    Government only cannot deal with this menace alone. Therefore, in the fight against vandalism of critical national infrastructure, all hands must be on deck. The public must be by educated on the negative impact of vandalism on our general wellbeing.There is nowhere in the world where societal development was achieved by government alone. All of us as Nigerians must see to it that we jointly cooperate and support government to achieve this onerous task of stable and constant power supply in Nigeria.

    Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Samaru Zaria 

     

  • Electricity workers insist on labour policy

    Electricity workers insist on labour policy

    Despite the inauguration of a Technical Working Group (TWG) by the Federal Government to provide common operational guidelines for employees in the power and labour sectors, the  electricity workers unions would continue to use industrial relations practice  to address problems facing their members, the General Secretary, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Abiodun Ogunsegha, has said.

    He said the guidelines could not serve as a substitute for the normal industrial relation practice which states that each sector should handle issues bordering on the welfare of its workers independently.

    He said: ‘’While appreciating the government’s efforts to provide common guidelines for labour and electricity workers in the country, we cannot accept as a substitute for the existing industrial relations practice because of the problems facing the power sector. We will still be dialoguing with each of the 15 new power investors to solve our members’ problems.

    ‘’ While we are awaiting the group to submit its report in July as directed by the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo and his counterpart in Labour Ministry, Chief Emeka Worgu, we would continue to address issues affecting our members in line with the industrial relations policy that mandate each sector to tackle employees issues or problems independently first.’’

    He noted that there was no cordial relationship between the management of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and its workers on one hand, and PHCN and the communities on the other.

     

    ‘’Based on this, the government needs to allow all the industrial relation issues before and after the privatisation of PHCN to be resolved first. Thereafter, the common guidelines policy can take effect. PHCN has been privatised. The government cannot ride us by imposing new guidelines on us. The dues of every worker must be given to them. We would not allow the rights of our people to be trampled upon.’’ he added.

    According to him, communities are buying poles, transformers, metres and other equipment the government is expected to provide as practiced in developed economies.

  • Boko Haram: Every Nigerian’s headache- Primate Okoh

    Boko Haram: Every Nigerian’s headache- Primate Okoh

    Nigerians have been urged to do less of blaming the federal government over the issue of insecurity in the country but strive to join forces with the government in tackling the challenges, especially the Boko Haram insurgents.

    This advice was given by the Bishop of Abuja, Anglican Communion The Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh at the weekend, in one of the nine key points he highlighted on the state of the nation while delivering the Presidential Address (Bishop Charge) at the Ninth Synod held at the Basilica of Grace, Gudu, Abuja.

    Addressing delegates and other guests which included representatives of President Jonathan Goodluck, the Minister for Power Chinedu Nebo, Okoh lamented that a myriad of problems have taken away the peace of Nigeria with the activities of Boko Haram becoming the most incomprehensible.

    Others he mentioned are kidnappers, armed robbers, nomadic militia groups, militancy, ritual killers e.t.c.

    He stated that with the north has been reduced to a shadow of its old self due to the grounding of commercial activities and halting of education, social and religious programmes, Nigeria is left with only two options.

    “There are only two options open to all, including the sponsors or those who think that Bokom Haram activities indirectly promote their wishes and desires. One, Nigerians should rise up, cooperate and stop Boko Haram or two, Boko Haram will destroy the country, Christians, Muslims and unbelievers are at risk’’.

    On the ongoing National Conference, the Archbishop reminded the delegates of the heavy burden they carry and the high expectations which many Nigerians have for the CONFAB.

    Describing the conference as a great opportunity for Nigerians to speak frankly to one another about the past, present and the future, Bishop Okoh challenged the delegates to courageously discuss the knotty issues of recurrent religious riots and loss of lives and property.

    On politics, particularly the 2014 and 2015 elections, he appealed to politicians to save the Nigerian state from anarchy and disintegration, charging them to see politics as a project to ensure the survival of the Nigerian state without which there will be no platform for political activities.

    The primate lauded the federal government over the decision to pursue the construction of the second Niger Bridge with a firm resolve as well as the improvement of the quality of roads and the prohibition of homosexual/lesbianism lifestyle even in the face of pressure from foreign countries.

  • Fed Govt to sanction Chinese firm over transformer fire

    Fed Govt to sanction Chinese firm over transformer fire

    Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo has said the Federal Government will sanction the Chinese company which manufactured the 150MVA transformer which caught fire at the Osogbo Transmission Centre.

    Nebo said this in a statement issued by the ministry on Monday in Abuja.

    He said the company would be punished if investigations into the fire incident showed that the product was sub-standard.

    “The measure, when taken, will serve as a deterrent to those other manufacturers of fake and sub-standard products and equipment,’’ the statement quoted the minister to have said.

    It said the minister, who was at the project site in Osogbo last weekend to assess the level of damage, said investigation to unravel the cause of the fire was still ongoing.

    The statement, however, said the minister was “reliably informed’’ that the fire was likely to have been caused by installation failure.

    It said this might have resulted from “sub-standard coils used in the transformer’’.

    The statement said a new 150MVA transformer, originally procured for the expansion of power supply network in Osogbo, would be used to replace the burnt one.

    It added that Nebo appealed to the communities where power supply had been disrupted as a result of the fire incident for understanding.The statement said the minister assured them that full electricity supply would soon be restored to their area.

    It said Nebo also commended the efforts of the fire-fighters who stopped the fire from consuming other transformers close to the burnt one.

     

  • More households to be hooked on national grid

    More households to be hooked on national grid

    •’Why we’re yet to adopt coal-to-power’

    The Federal Government promised yesterday to connect at least 75 per cent of households to the national grid by 2020.

    Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo said this in Abuja at the seventh annual conference of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE).

    He said: “We are getting these things ready. The Federal Government is investing huge resources to make sure that most communities get connected. That is going to happen. By the grace of God, it will not be long. By 2020, 75 per cent of Nigerian population and households will be connected to the national grid.”

    The minister explained that because of the vandalism at the nation’s gas pipeline, the Federal Government had learnt not to depend on just one source of energy.

    He said the government decided to go beyond a monolithic source to the development of an energy mix to complement gas.

    Prof Nebo said the Federal Government started the 700 megawatts (MW) Hydroelectric Project in Zungeru, Niger State.

    According to him, the government would soon begin the development of the Mambilla Hydro Power project, besides the adoption of renewable energy from wind, solar, biomass and biofuel.

    Prof Nebo said Nigeria had not utilised its coal to generate power because there was no adequate quantity.

    The minister assured that the Federal Government was working on a bankable feasibility study on the use of coal-for-power.

    According to him, for Nigeria to venture into coal-to-power, there must be proof of adequate quantity to last 25 to 30 years.

    He said: “But we don’t have the finite quantity of coal deposit in Nigeria…We need enough coal for 25 to 30 years. We are working on bankable feasibility study to ensure that we don’t just rush into coal power plant without making sure of adequate supply.”

    On whether or not the vision of connecting 75 per cent of Nigerians to the national grid by 2020 was realisable, Nebo said: “What the Goodluck Jonathan administration has put in place is dynamic, with infrastructural development not only conceived but also being implemented in extensive grid transmission and will soon make a national grid possible.

    “By the grace of God, we will be able to achieve that, and for those not connected to the national grid we are making efforts that they have power upgrade sufficient for them.”

     

  • NUEE faults govt’ deadline to electricity firms

    NUEE faults govt’ deadline to electricity firms

    The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has faulted the June deadline given to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) by the Federal Government to stabilise power supply in the country, saying it is not feasible.

    Its General Secretary, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said the workers were shocked by the ultimatum given by the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo, arguing that the minister had earlier identified shortage of gas as the major cause of the instability.

    He said: “If he knew the problem was gas, why did he hand over the sector to private operators? He should have addressed the gas supply problem first. Even within six months, will the gas problem be over, especially with the political siting of power stations in Nigeria? You site a power station at 200 or 300 kilometres  away from the source of gas because you are a minister, you want a power station to be sited in your state.

    “Rather than site the power stations close to the source of gas, they sited the stations in their states and you then construct a pipeline from the gas source to where the power plant is situated.”

    He continued: “Every now and then, you will say the pipeline has been vandalised or sabotaged. So long as the distance between the stations and gas source are far, so long as we depend on gas, the mandate the minister has given them will remain a mirage. It will not be actualised.

    “The same minister had equally said before that he was afraid whether some of the investors have the capacity to revive the sector or change some of the facilities sold to them. This has raised the question whether there was due diligence or whether they knew the capacity of these investors before selling the plants to them.”

    He added: “Nevertheless, it is too late for all these. We have to live with these investors. We have applied a drug on a patient; we have to wait and watch the effect. I want to appeal to Nigerians to exercise patience and see the effect of this drug.”

    On the plight of workers in the sector, Ajaero said it was serious.

    “The issue of disengagement is happening daily.The kind of private sector you have in Nigeria is such that operators ask workers to go orally. It is a terrible private sector and we have tried to tolerate them for the first, two and three months because Nigerians would say, we disrupted their activities;  that is why they are not performing.

    “The poor power situation in the country would have been blamed on the union if we had engaged them mmediately they started all these anti-labour practices. But we are going to engage them from now. Wherever they are, from today, they should be aware that for every anti-labour policy they take, we are going to engage them.

    “Some of them have the pedigree of being anti-labour inside out. With such people, you know that it is going to be very interesting. In the next few months, some of the stations would be very hot,” Ajaero warned.

    He said for firms that refuse to recognise workers’ rights, the union would tackle them, adding that whether that brings any problem to power situation in the country will not be the union’s  business.

    He said: “We have given them time to stabilise, but not to distabilise or enslave the workers.

    “However, in some places because of the number of workers sacked, they are equally re-engaging. In many places, they are reengaging. They have discovered that the job cannot go on because of the number of workers disengaged. It is a question of disengaging and reengaging with a whole lot of issues coming up.”

  • Jonathan to launch renewable energy plans

    Jonathan to launch renewable energy plans

    •Fed Govt urges private sector to participate in Light Up Rural Nigeria

    President Goodluck Jonathan has said the Federal Government will, in the first quarter of this year, unveil renewable energy plans for the country.

    The plans, he said, are: “National Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency Policy and Rural Electrification Strategy”.

    The President spoke in Abuja at the unveiling of Operation Light-Up Rural Nigeria (OLRN) at Durumi in Mpape area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    He said the project would support the nation’s energy mix and curb climate change challenges.

    Jonathan advised Nigerians to desist from vandalising power installations, which he said was tantamount to economic sabotage.

    The President urged influential Nigerians to partner his administration on the OLRN projects.

    The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, urged the private operator to take over the operations of the power sector to ensure smooth operations throughout Nigeria.

    He said: “Mr President, sir, we intend to invite the private sector to fully participate and eventually take over the entire operations to ensure that saturation is attained quickly and that no community is left behind in Nigeria.”

    The minister said the Federal Government was making provision for the legal framework, an enabling environment, a cost-reflective tariff and a quick deployment of appropriate technology to boost electricity supply.

    Nebo explained that the OLRN was conceived as a fast-track mechanism to deliver electricity to thousands of rural communities in Nigeria, especially those that have not been connected to the national grid.

    It is also for other communities that are flung from the national grid, the minister added.

    According to him, the project is anchored on the deployment of renewable energy and the principles of energy efficiency/conservation to deliver high quality lighting systems to every household and with street lights to every community under the programme.

    The minister said that the covered community will have a community energy hub equipped with enough power outlets for charging of electronic devices and refrigeration of perishables.

    Nebo said every house was furnished with several energy-saving bulbs of the light-emitting-diode species as well as charging points for electronic devices and energy-saving fans.

    He said the surrounding of every household would be well lit while streets and pathways would be well illuminated to ensure that there are no dark corners.

    On the implementation of the project, he said: “We are using two models in our Operation Light-Up Rural Nigeria Programme. The first is what you see here at Durumi, which is essentially a detached system. Under this programme, each household has its own solar panels that power it.

    “For this Durumi project, we have partnered mostly Schneider Electric of France and partly Phillips Electronics of Netherlands to deliver electricity to over 1,000 households. The project is co-ordinated by my Senior Special Assistant on Access to Power, Dr. Albert Okorogu.”

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Philip Aduda, promised that the National Assembly would support the Federal Government with the legislative framework for the accomplishment of the renewable energy plan.

     

  • Minister, PHCN workers disagree over severance pay

    Minister, PHCN workers disagree over severance pay

    •IFC: new power firms look good

    Disagreements have ensued over the payment of severance package to workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) as stakeholders hold divergent views.

    According to the National President, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Workers, Bernard Okpara, the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo’s claims that over 70 per cent of the workers had been paid was not correct.

    Okpara said over 55 per cent of the workers had yet to be paid, adding that the development contradicted the earlier agreement reached with the government

    The government, he said, reneged on its promise to pay the entitlements before handing over to the new owners.

    He also said the workers had yet to be paid pension, adding that those who retired recently have not also collected their gratuity.

    “These show that the government has not yet complied with the agreement it reached with labour to resolve all outstanding issues before handing over the companies to private investors,” he added.

    Also, the President, Senior Staff Association of PHCN Mr Godwin Ifenacho said the power distribution (DISCOs’) and generation (GENCOs’) decision to retain less than 40 per cent of the workforce of 48,000 was not good.

    The development, he said, suggested that many skilled workers would be thrown into the labour market.

    He said electricity generation and distribution were sensitive matters, arguing that people that are technically strong and experienced in this area should be employed.

    However, the Ministry of Power has promised that the workers’, entitlements would be paid.

    Its spokesman, Timothy Oyedeji, denied claims that the Federal Government was not ready to pay, saying the payment is being done in phases because of the large number of workers.

    He said: ‘’The delay in paying the entitlements of workers does not mean that government is not serious about the issue. Government’s money is not something that must be thrown about. The issue requires due process. Verification of workers’ data among other information is important, hence the decision to make payment in phases. Everybody would be paid. Even, if there is minor disagreement, it should be resolved in the interest of the country. It should not be used to undermine the privatisation process.’’

    The government, he said, privatised the power sector to make it work, adding that there was no ulterior motive behind it.

    Oyedeji said there were opportunities in the labour market, adding that the government is making arrangements to engage the workers where their competence is needed.

    In his own submission, the Director-General, National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, said the Commission has not received complaints on payment of severance package to workers of PHCN.

    He said none of the 14 Discos and GENCOS has petitioned the agency on the matter, promising that the commission will act accordingly if it received such petitions.

    NERC, he said, would rely on the terms guiding the sale of the companies to resolve such issues.

    The payment of emoluments of the defunct PHCN workers fall under the guidelines for the sale of the company’s assets which is not within the NERC’s purview, he said.

    Amadi said: ‘’Labour issues are purely transactional and not regulatory. They are issues that revolve around the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the privatised companies and the core investors in PHCN’s assets. However, if NERC receives any petition from any of the utility companies, the organisation will look at their licence, terms and conditions of operations. We are yet to receive petition(s) from any of them.’’

    Meanwhile, International Finance Corporation has predicted a better outlook for the 14 power firms.

    Its Director, Infrastructure Department, Bernard Sheahan, told The Nation that more local and foreign financial institutions would be comfortable dealing with the companies now that they have taken possession of the assets of the unbundled PHCN

    He said the assets inherited by the companies were financeable, adding that it would not be long before the companies start getting loans from credible financial institutions.

    It was wrong, he said, to conclude that the acquired assets are weak, arguing that many of them were still very strong. He stated that on the basis of this, the banks would carry out their investigations and see whether they can advance credits to the firms.

    ‘’ It is wrong to say that PHCN’s assets are old and not financeable. We have discovered that the assets are bankable, hence the decision to finance the power firms as part of our growth strategies for Nigeria,’’ he said.

    Sheahan conceded that company has been holding discussions with the DISCOs and GENCOs to provide long-term financing for them since thay have paid for the assets, and therefore need to look for more long-term funding for growth.