The power sector needs about $5billion (N900billion) yearly to expand infrastructure and increase electricity generation from its current 3,700 megawatts (Mw) to 20,000 Mw, Prof. Chinedu Nebo has said.
Nebo who spoke through his Special Adviser on Investments, Finance and Donor, Olajuwon Olaleye, at the 4th edition of the WorldStage National Electricity Power Conference (WNEPC) in Lagos, said the sector needs to spend $5 billion annually for the next five years to produce 20,000Mw of electricity.
He said the money will be invested across the value chain to foster the growth of the sector. He said three core areas, which include generation; distribution and transmission need to be well funded in view of their critical roles in the sector.
He said: “For the sector to grow its capacity to 20,000Mw, it needs to invest about $5billion annually on key infrastructural facilities. The generation, distribution and transmission need value additions in order to move the industry forward. The only way to do this is to improve on their existing infrastructure.
“We are working towards making the sector effective and vibrant such that investors would get good yields. If you are bringing investors into the sector, such investors can only attend to you if they know that they would get good yields on their investments. A lot of supports have come to the sector through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development (DFID), African Finance Corporation(AFC), World Bank, and other development agencies,”
He said maintenance and development of energy infrastructure is ongoing to tackle the problems facing the sector. He said inadequate gas supply and pipeline vandalism are problems in the sector but noted that the government is making efforts to address them.
He said the government has introduced Infrastructure Security Surveillance through which it is monitoring the activities of people that vandalise gas pipelines, adding that it has employed members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for that purpose.
Nebo said the Ministry of Power and Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other relevant stakeholders, have discussed how to make gas available to the power firms.
He said the government has set up Market Discipline Resolution Panel (MDRP), automated the system of paying for power, and introduced a concept called ‘Shadow Training’ through which it simulates activities in the sector, among other initiatives.
He said: “Just as activities are simulated on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in order to determine the movement or growth of stocks, the same way the government is simulating activities in the power sector through an initiative called Shadow Training.”
The idea helps us to know how power is transmitted into the grid, among other things. The second cycle of Shadow Training has started to enable us fast-track the growth of the industry.
He said lawyers, accountants, arbitrators, among others, are members of the MDRP, stressing that they have been mandated to discharge their responsibilities in a professional manner.
He said the government has mandated the power distribution companies (DISCOs) to open arbitration offices for settlement of cases arising from poor treatment of consumers.
“There is a penalty if a company does not supply power for 15 days. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) will sanction any company that violates the law. The major goal of the panel is to ensure amicable resolution of disputes among stakeholders in the sector. The panel has the right to punish offenders in line with the laws guiding the operation of the sector,” he said.
