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Tag: poor power supply

  • Poor power supply: Startups to the rescue

    Poor power supply is affecting economic growth. Tech startups are tackling the problem, reports Daniel Essiet.

    Energy is an essential factor for reducing poverty and boosting economic growth. But across Nigeria, there is inadequate energy to spur the much- needed development.

    About 70 per cent of households are either off-grid or have a ‘bad grid’ connection with less than four hours of electricity per day, according to a report by Dalbery.

    To this end, analysts say expanding electrification is an important step towards building an economy. This has created opportunities for tech startups, which are preoccupied with delivering transformative change through solar and other forms of alternative energy.

    Now, there are entrepreneurs powering solar street lights and solar projects. Some are processing waste into biodiesel and solar energy.

    One of them is Quaint Global Energy Solutions. The firm develops renewable power projects and provides solar energy solutions to rural Nigeria. The company has been given a grant by the United States Trade and Development Agency for a solar power project that they are developing in northern Nigeria.

    Quaint Global Energy Solutions is working with California-based Tetra Tech. On its completion, the project is expected to bring 50 megawatts of clean energy to Kaduna State and generate more than $160 million revenue.

    Another one is Rensource Energy,  aimed at delivering affordable solar energy to households and businesses to replace the use of generators.

    It introduced a segmented subscription-based business model in March 2017 that enabled customers prepay for energy, rather than own the infrastructure. This means customers can save a lot of money by switching to solar energy. The system uses a combination of long-lasting lithium-based batteries and solar energy. The service is offered through a mobile-based user interface that allows its customers to pay their bills, and to understand how they use their power.

    Read Also: Poor power supply killing SMEs

    Since its inception in 2015, Rensource has managed well over 1,500 customers.

    Last year, the firm secured a loan of €500,000 from Trine Financial Limited.

    Early last year, the renewable energy startup also secured $3.5 million in bridge financing to expand the business. In 2016, Rensource had secured a previous funding of about $1.1 million, bringing its total investments from external funding to $5.5 million.

    Other startups have also entered  the sector. But that of OneWattSolar, a startup based in Lagos, has been significant. It allows Nigerians to pay for solar energy with Blockchain tokens.

    The company allows customers to purchase tokens in  naira  using the platforms of third party tech finance firms.

    It seeks to help people pay for the energy using Blockchain without  owning the solar infrastructure that provides the power.

    OneWattSolar uses blockchain in three ways: raises funds to buy and install the solar systems, helps users track energy use and allow users buy energy credits for their homes.The startup targets customers who spend about N10, 000 monthly or more on their energy bills. There are plans to target other customer segments.

    So far, it has a target of 12,000 homes or businesses with clean solar energy.

    OneWattSolar systems comprise solar panels, internet-enabled meter system and inverter battery technology. The system components are being custom-designed specifically to meet the needs of its customers as against buying ready-made solar panels and equipment. OneWattSolar pays for, installs, owns and operates the Solar Residential Energy Unit (SHS). OneWattSolar is working with independent solar installers within GoSolar Africa’s network.

    OneWattSolar was founded by GoSolar Africana renewable energy startup also based in Lagos that provides clean energy to households, businesses, schools, non-profits and government organisations.

    GoSolar Africa is led by Femi Oye who founded the company in 2010.

    Another firm is AllOn, an impact investing firm established to stimulate the development of collaborative partnerships for innovative solutions that facilitate increased access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy sources in Nigeria.

    AllOn CEO, Dr. Wiebe Boer Boer said: “The energy gap in Nigeria is the foundation for so many of the country’s economic and social development problems.”

    He said power distribution is a major stumbling block to development with firms seldom making it beyond big cities due to high costs of installation.

    He said the huge energy access gap in the country means the opportunities to address the gap were also considerable.

    With limited grid coverage, the Allon chief noted that many Nigerians relied on electricity generators.

    He stated that with Nigeria’s increasing energy requirements to achieve its developmental goals, there was the need to find and support clean energy innovators to build successful and sustainable businesses around their solutions.

    He said many small scale firms and startups have ventured into the sector and can explore its vast amount renewable energy potential.

    Boer explained that many entrepreneurs were rising to the challenge of leveraging the off-grid power revolution to provide electricity for millions of people in parts of the country through innovative and adaptive technologies and business models borrowed from outside.

    One area that offers sustainable investment opportunities for entrepreneurs, he said, is solar energy due to advances in technologies.

    Boer said the mini-grids and solar home systems that will save Nigerians billions yearly.

    He said the company focuses on energy efficiency and renewable energy and aims to help startups develop practical solutions, test-bed the solutions in actual projects, and build their track record.

    He said his organisation is ready to support startups to bring lighting solutions to off-grid communities who live in informal settlements and rural areas across the country.

    According to him, there are opportunities for small businesses to invest in solar cells, earn income  and help bring electricity to areas in need.

    He said startups could provide low-cost, environmentally-friendly power sources for lighting, cooking, among others.

    Boer said the company would invest in entrepreneurs that could provide electricity to households without going through the complexities of building a big generation and transmission infrastructure.

    He said funders were searching for innovators in the sector, to expand off-grid energy access for underserved markets, through solar, wind and biogas technologies.

  • ’90% informal sector operators battle power supply’

    Ninety per cent of the operators in the informal sector is unable to produce optimally, due to the poor power supply in the country, Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) President Mr. Femi Adaju has said.

    He said the situation had worsened as generation drops to 4,300 megawatts (Mw) early this month, adding that the issue is affecting the economy, largely dominated by informal sector operators.

    He said operators, such as welders, hairdressers, launders, fashion designers, and mobile phone chargers, spend a bigger chunk of their capital  to provide alternative source of energy.

    Adajau, in a paper entitled: “The implications of power failure on the economy: Effects on the operators in the informal sector,” delivered at a stakeholders’ forum in Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos,  said the economy was struggling to survive because the sector were not recording enough growth.

    According to him, the sector is in dire crisis and requires the intervention of the stakeholders, including the Federal Government, to ensure that off-grid electricity is used. He said when solar, biomass and other off-grid methods of generating electricity is used, the effects of poor power supply would be minimal.

    Adaju said: “While it is obvious that the manufacturers and other formal operators are struggling to record growth due to the reduction in capacity utilisation of workers and other issues, operators in the informal sector are not doing well either. Informal operators spend huge amount of money on providing electricity through generators.

    “People who use smaller generators, known in local parlance as “I better pass my neighbour’’, spend between N1,500 and N2,000 to fuel their generators for between 10 hours and 12 hours daily. This is exorbitant in view of the bad economy. When N1,500 or N2,000 is multiplied by 30 days, it amounts to either N45,000 or N60,000 per month.

    ‘’Operators would not have spent such amount if the government and the private investors that bought the power assets of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) five years ago had stabilised the sector.

  • Minister laments poor power supply to Abuja

    Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Muhammad Bello has called for an improvement in the volume of electricity supplied to Abuja to effectively power critical infrastructure.
    Bello spoke when he received the management team of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), led by the new Managing Director, Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed, in his office.
    The minister, who described the 11 per cent electricity allocated to the FCT and neighbouring states as inadequate, called on the TCN to allocate more power to the Abuja Distribution Company (AEDC), with specific instruction that the extra power be dedicated to FCT.
    A statement by his Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, said: “Powering the city’s critical infrastructure like streetlights, hospitals, water treatment plants and waste management value chain, especially the liquid waste management, has been a big challenge with epileptic power supply.
    “We have been faced with a number of options, like going off grid. But we realise that going off grid will require using fossil fuels and installing generators around the city; this of course affects the environment critically.
    “Really, I want you to consider some short term solutions. We need power in Abuja, not just to make the city look beautiful, but for security as well.
    Bello noted the FCT administration released N500 million to the AEDC as part payment for its bills.
    Mohammed appreciated the warn reception accorded his team and promised that, in collaboration with the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), TCN will consider the minister’s request for more allocation of power to the Abuja zone.
    He hinted that TCN is working on the possibility of bringing additional power lines through Lafia in Nasarawa State, to support the Gwagwaglada and Suleja lines.

  • Poor power supply cripples socio-economic life in Kano

    Poor power supply cripples socio-economic life in Kano

    Residents of Kano State may soon be plunged into darkness as the state power supply from the national grid has dipped to less than 30megawatts (Mw), which may eventually affect the socio-economic activities in the commercial city to the verge of collapse.

    Going by this development and based on the feelers  from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) of the possibility that the nation might soon be thrown into darkness as a result of system failure, if additional attention is not placed on electricity generation.

    Speaking to reporters in Kano, the Managing Director, Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO)  Alhaji Jamil Gawuna, said  the prevailing worsening state of electricity supply to the state now threatens the operations of the company.

    He lamented that since the beginning of May, the states under the operational zone of his company have being receiving 30 Mw, against a total requirement of about 500Mw.

    According to him, the 30Mw been allocated to the state includes a standby order given to the company to allocate 30 per cent of total allocations to the area to neighboring Niger Republic.

    What this implies is that when the allocation to Niger Republic is deducted, the consumers in states under it are left with almost zero allocation, he lamented.

    He said: “On behalf of the management of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), I wish to draw the attention of the Federal Government, and electricity consumers in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa to the issue threatening electricity supply in the zone.

    “This is issue is worrisome state of electricity supply which the zone has being experiencing since the beginning of this month. For the past one month now supply to the area has reduced to about 30 per cent.

    “This dismal allocation includes the 30 per cent standby order which we have for the neighboring Niger Republic. Also we have experienced 12 shut downs in the past one month in the zone, and this is compounding other difficulties that we are experiencing to remain in operation.

    “Because of the grave situation at hand, I am forced to contact one of the director of the TCN, to complain to about our situation, and he told me that the declining supply was because of shrinking generation which according to him has gone down to about 1005Mw.”

    On the negative impact of situation at hand on revenue profile of the company, Gawuna revealed that inadequate supply of electricity has pushed his management to be running at a lose, since it took over the ownership of the electricity asset

    .”Since we took over the ownership of the company we have been paying within an average of N1.2 billion every month for electricity supply, and a monthly wage bill of about N400 million, as well as addition N100 million for network maintenance.

    “The total cost of operation is about N1.8 billion. On the average, what we are generating is about N1.2 billion, you can see the lost that the company is incurring every month, and for us to remain in operation we have to go borrowing from banks, or increase our equity.

    “This was one o the reasons, why the DISCOs in the country are asking for tariff hike to address the deficit incurred as result of these expenses, and to assist us me returns on investment,” he explained.

  • Customers protest poor power supply, workers’ conduct

    Customers protest poor power supply, workers’ conduct

    NO fewer than 300 residents of Papa Ashafa, Dopemu and Orile-Agege in Lagos yesterday stormed the Ikeja Electric Distribution Company’s Headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, to protest against its workers’ conduct.

    They also complained about poor power supply.

    The protesters chanted “Solidarity forever, we shall fight for our rights”, and “All we are saying, give us constant light”. They carried placards with inscriptions: “We are tired of using candles and local lantern”; “Say no to the use of rechargeable lantern”; ‘We need power supply at low rate”; “No more estimated or coded bills,’ and “No light-no pay”, among others.

    The protest attracted passersby, some of who hailed the protesters.

    The protesters demanded to know why the company breached its agreement with them during their last protest.

    It was learnt that the residents agreed to pay N4,000 monthly on each house because of the poor condition of their metres until they are repaired or replaced with prepaid metres.

    The residents also demanded the reconnection of light to some areas, replacement of worn-out cables and transformers, and the cancellation of what they called “crazy” bills.

    Coordinator, Youth Alliance for Better Nigeria Adegoke Moruf Niniola said the protest was to show their displeasure with the firm’s services.

    He urged the firm to stop billing customers for the electricity they did not consume.

    Moricass Youth and Elders Forum National Chairman Aderemi Adeyemo accused the firm of favouring industrial consumers, describing the development as worrisome. He appealed to the company to ensure that its workers are trained on how to do their jobs without bias.

    The IKEDC Area Controller, Mr Dare Oyedotun, praised the residents for the peaceful protest, saying most of the problems were caused by low power transmission.

    He said solution would soon be found for “crazy” bills, promising to fish out those using electricity illegally.

     

  • Community protests poor power supply, high tarrif

    Community protests poor power supply, high tarrif

    Residents of Okemoye Community Development Association, in Ikotun-Igando Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State, last week registered their grievances over what they described as unjustifiable increment in electricity tariff without commensurate supply of electricity.
    Members of the community marched to the Ijegun Business Unit of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) with placards bearing various inscriptions such as “Stop this impunity now IKEDC!” “How long will this inefficiency continue?” “Supply us with prepaid meters now and stop giving us estimated bills.”
    The protesters are angry that the economic hardship currently being experienced in the country is being compounded by epileptic power supply, which has crippled many small businesses in the area. They claimed that the tariff, which is largely based on estimated consumption, is unjustifiably high compared to services rendered.
    “Why should we be paying for services we did not enjoy?” A female protester asked angrily, holding up a placard.
    The chairman of the CDA, Mr Matthew Akinfenwa, said that the community decided to embark on the peaceful rally to register their displeasure and to convey their resolution that until the issue of overestimated billing is resolved, the community will henceforth cease to make further payment with regards to electricity tariffs.
    He said: “We are here today to protest the epileptic state of power supply in our area and to let them know that we would no longer continue to pay those crazy and outrageous bills unless they are reduced.”
    A landlord, Bayo Okeowo, also lamented that they enjoy electricity for less than 23 hours in a month, yet get outrageous bills, urging the power distribution firm to expedite action on the distribution of prepaid meters to ensure accurate billing. According to him, he would not mind paying more for power as long as the supply is constant.
    Another resident of the community, Ojo Emmanuel, lamented that his wife, who deals in frozen foods, has closed shop because of the epileptic state of power supply which has made the business unprofitable. He said that the power firm engages in load-shedding, which, according to him, is not favourable to them.
    “It is as if we are paying them to service other people. On the days we were supposed to be on, we hardly get supply, whereas, other areas seem to be enjoying more power on their own days. My wife, who sells frozen chicken and other items, has closed her business because of poor electricity supply. We cannot continue like this,” he said.
    Addressing the protesters, an official in the unit, who chose to remain anonymous, appealed to the protesters to remain calm as their grievances will be addressed in no distant time.
    The official, who was identified by an impeccable source as the Business Manager of the unit, said: “I will appeal to all of you to take things easy. I have just been newly posted to this unit. I will look into the issues raised and see what I can do about it.
    “Very soon, we will begin the distribution of prepaid meters, just as we are currently working hard to improve power supply. On the issue of crazy bills, I’ll advise you to endeavour to pay what you can afford, while we try to rectify the issue.”

  • Nigeria’s GDP drops four per cent due to poor power supply

    Nigeria’s GDP drops four per cent due to poor power supply

    Nigeria’S Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has lost about four per cent of its value due to shortage of power supply, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki, has said.

    Presenting a paper tiltled: “Update on post-Privatisation Issues” yesterday in Abuja during the inaugural of the National Council on Nigeria, Dikki explained that  power supply has a direct relationship with the affluence of a country.

    “Look at the percentage of GDP that is lost because of power. We are losing almost three to four per cent of GDP because of poor power supply.”

    He lamented that Nigeria cannot develop with its kind of power supply at the moment, stressing that “no nation can abandon investment in power for so long and expect to make progress,” he said, adding that  while Germany has 406watts per capita, Nigeria is doing a paltry 40 megawatts per capita.

    “We cannot develop and grow with that kind of power consumption. That also shows you that there is a direct relationship between power and affluence and economic development. The more power available to the citizenry, the more development and affluence resulting from the whole process,” he said.

    Dikki said the Federal Government has paid severance and pension gratuity to  over  98 per cent of the 47,913 workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    He said out of the 47,913 who were identified as workers, 46,326 were validated, while 45,750 have had their funds remitted to the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

    The BPE boss explained that out of this number, 365 have retired and have been handled as retirees, while there are 201 outstanding payments that have been validated that are in the process of being effected.

    Dikki said the government is yet to validate 865 workers and 722 unidentified cases.

    He said N371billion has been remitted to the Office of the Accountant-General for payment.

    In the case of retirees, he said: “We have identified 4,126; we have verified 3,233; 933 showed up for verification; 1,083 have already been paid while 358 are undergoing auditing to validate the retirees;  381 computation is going on to determine their entitlement.”

    Dikki explained that N10billion has been remitted to the office of the Accountant General to effect the  payment of the retirees.

    He said: N392billion has already been remitted  for effecting the payments of these retirees, and there is funding for those that have not been verified. As soon as they are verified, remittance will be made appropriately for their payment.”

    On the National Council on Power, the Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil, said the Council is an enlarged forum consisting of key stakeholders in the power sector, mainly from the public, private and non-governmental organisations and the development partners to deliberate on issues that will support the Federal Government’s effort at accelerating sustainable power supply.