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Tag: power generation

  • Power generation collapses to 61.60MW

    Power generation collapses to 61.60MW

    The national grid on Tuesday collapsed from 2,711.84MW at 1pm to 61.60MW by 2pm.

    The Independent System Operator (ISO) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) broke the news on its website.

    The record indicated that the generation dipped to 58MW at 3pm, rose to 360.30MW at 4pm, and dropped to 32MW at 5pm.

    The website record on the distribution profile of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) was not accessible as of press time.

    The industry has recorded over seven incidents of grid collapse this year with this one being the first occurrence in November.

    TCN Public Affairs, General Manager, Ndidi Mbah in a statement, explained that several lines and generators tripped to cause the grid collapse.

    The spokesperson said the restoration of the grid was ongoing.

    Read Also: TCN restores bulk power to northern States

    The statement reads in parts: “The Transmission Company of Nigeria states that the national grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 1;52 pm today, 5th November 2024. 

    “This followed a series of lines and generators trippings that caused instability of the grid and, consequently, the partial disturbance of the system. The data from the National Control Centre (NCC) revealed that a part of the grid was not affected by the bulk power disruption. 

    “TCN engineers are already working to quickly restore bulk power supply to the states affected by the partial disturbance. 

    “Presently, bulk power supply has been restored to Abuja, at 2.49pm, and we are gradually restoring to other parts of the country. 

    “We sincerely apologize for every inconvenience this may cause our electricity customers.”

  • ERGP Focus Labs to boost power generation

    The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) focus Labs set up by the Federal Government is expected to boost power generation in the country and promote economic growth.

    Geometerics Power Limited, a major player in the nation’s power sector and a host of other participants must have been skeptical upon receiving invitation to attend the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) focus lab sessions which took place in Abuja this year.

    As with most Nigerians, this skepticism often stems from the general perception of such initiatives as another “regular talk shop” organized by the government, where experts and bright minds are gathered for brainstorming sessions but their recommendations never quite get implemented.

    Unknown to the participants, a big surprise awaited them, as it turned out by the end of the six-week programme which had in attendance sectorial experts, investors, decision makers in government and other economy major stakeholders. The company, like others, couldn’t have wished for a better opportunity to unlocking its stifled business operations. Not only that, the participation saw Geometrics Power Limited being part of a renewed effort to get the country back on track for the much needed economic recovery and sustainable growth, especially in the power sector. It suddenly saw light at the end of what had been a very long and dark tunnel.

    Geometrics Power Limited is the company handling the Integrated Power Project (IPP) in Aba, Abia State, which covers nine local government areas in what is referred to as the “Aba Ring Fence”. A protracted misunderstanding saw the company pitched against the Enugu Distribution Company (Enugu Disco) over the project ownership, in the wake of the privatization of the Power Holdings Company of Nigeria, which left the project suffering lack of attention, with many imported components of the project lying waste for over five years.

    By its participation in the ERGP focus labs, the company was afforded an opportunity to meet key decision makers in government and experts who offered the level of assistance and resolution to the seemingly unending challenges it was facing. The same challenges it never could have imagined were possible for resolution, least of all on the spot, given the history of bureaucratic bottlenecks that hamper projects implementation in the country. The focus lab thus provided unfettered access to key decision makers, including concerned Ministers, heads of Parastatals, key officials, as well as representatives of the Bureau of Public of Enterprise (BPE), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Budget Office, Customs and other agencies required to progress the project.

     Benefits of participation in the focus labs

    Surely among several others, the benefits Geometrics Power derived from participation in the focus labs were legion, the greatest of which was resolution of the quagmire it found itself in the Aba IPP. The coast is now clear for it to commence work on the project that is expected to generate 500 megawatts of electricity.

    Not only did the inability of putting the acquired turbines to use for over five years render the equipment useless, it also eroded the manufacturers warrantee on them. At the Abuja event, Geometrics Power was assigned the foreign organization that would assist in getting the turbines reconfigured to make them useful. A major benefit the company derived in this regard was opportunity to secure, at the focus labs, a presidential approval for the equipment to be taken out of the country for the reconfiguration, since there is a ban on export or re-export of equipment of that magnitude from of the country.

    At the focus labs, the company achieved a major breakthrough in securing assistance of the Central Bank of Nigeria and some local banks in sourcing the foreign exchange component requirements for the reconfiguration of the turbines. Thus, the company is set to get the Aba IPP off the ground as soon as possible.

     Benefits of uninterrupted power to Aba

    The benefits of delivering uninterrupted power supply to Ava are enormous, owing to its status as the industrial hub of the South East for decades. For some time now, there have been concerted efforts at promoting local production of goods also known as ‘Aba-made’ products, with shoes being the dominant product.

    The expected boost of power supply to Aba, which will be achieved with the IPP operated by Geometrics Power, will see a massive resuscitation of moribund businesses in the shoes and leather products sub-sector of the manufacturing sector, within and outside the city. For instance, resuscitation of moribund and upscaling of existing businesses in the sub-sector would boost the business of hides and skin producers in the northern part of the country, who depend largely on manufacturers of Aba-made shoes and leather products for survival. Consequentially, this would create more jobs in the locality and even much more along the value chain. Again, the impact of same on social living would be huge with greater potentials as the further grows. This is besides, the possibility of local manufacturers of shoes and other fashion accessories in Aba and environs to feed the boutiques and fashion shops in far-away places like Lagos, other parts of the country and the continent too.

    When completed, the Aba IPP is expected to increase the total national electricity generation from the seven thousand megawatts it was as at mid-2018. This is a significant benefit of the over N2.6 trillion the federal government released for capital expenditure to finance infrastructure and other related projects in the country.

  • Power generation rises marginally to 2,982Mw

    The Independent System Operator (SO) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday said power generation rose marginally from 2,670Mega watts (Mw) on Monday to 2,982Mw on yesterday.

    According to the Daily Operational report on the website of the SO, the peak generation was 4,656.6Mw, while the 2,670Mw was the lowest power generation.

    The report noted that 86,687Mw/h (3,611Mw) was the energy recorded on Monday. On frequency, the report said the highest frequency was 50.74Hz, while the lowest system frequency recorded was 49.98Hz.

    The highest voltage recorded was 350kv while the lowest voltage recorded was 300kv.

    It was however learnt from an insider who pleaded not to be mentioned that the decline in power generation was due to the picketing of Egbin Generation Company by the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).

    The union’s General Secretary, Comrade Joe Ajaero confirmed the exercise in a text message.

    Contacted, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) General Manager Media, Mrs. Vivian Mbonu, said she be given  time to find out the cause of the dip in power generation. Her response was not ready as at press time.

    With a second call to request for her response, she told our correspondent that “I have sent the question to our commissioner.”

    The spokesperson of the Association of Power Generation Companies Barr Joy Ogaji also never responded to calls.

    A fortnight ago, the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED), issued a statement to disprove the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) has a supply capacity of 7,000Mw.

  • Power generation rises to 7,000 megawatts

    Power generation across the country currently stands at  7000 megawatts, Power, Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola  said yesterday in Calabar.

    Fashola, speaking at the 4th retreat for top directors, heads of units and chief executives of agencies and parastatals under the ministry, said that although there was still more to be done, the ministry had moved forward from where it was three years ago.

    He said: “Three years ago, the story was that power generation was the main problem of Nigeria. The story was that the distribution companies were complaining that they did not have enough energy to distribute to Nigerians.

    “We were distributing averagely 2,690 megawatts of electricity to Nigerians, but today, that story has changed. Distribution has risen to 5,222 megawatts, an all-time national high.

    “Transmission has reached 7,000, while generation has reached 7000. The problem has not finished, but all we can say is that we have made progress.”

  • ‘Micro grid option of power generation best’

    Watt Renewable Corporation Chief Operating Officer, Oluwole Eweje, has urged communities across the country to explore the option of micro grids as a way of tackling power deficit from the national grid.

    Eweje, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend, said the success recorded Loburo, a community in Mowe,  Ogun State, is a clear indication that micro grids deployment is capable of addressing the captive energy needs of homes, commercial businesses, schools, and clinics.

    He said Luburo, a busy community under-served with power from the national grid, now gets 24/7 electricity through the 10kW solar micro grid, owned by WATT Renewable Corporation, a Canadian hybrid energy provider, and managed by First WATT Renewable Limited its Nigerian subsidiary. It supplies more than 10 homes and businesses, including a clinic, two schools, and a variety of small commercial shops.

    “These renewable micro grids are cropping up all around the world as developing and developed countries alike turn to them for their increased resilience and flexibility. The speed with which they can bring electricity makes them decisive for countries with lower electrification rates such as Nigeria. Micro grids offer an opportunity for communities to move up the energy ladder quicker and with greener energy than expansion of a central grid,” he said.

    In order to make them affordable, he said, the micro grid needs to be the right size to fit the usage. “Too big a system will lead to under-utilisation and higher per unit costs; too small a system will forego revenue and scale effects, again leading to higher per unit costs. In order to properly size the micro grid, WATT engages in intensive community engagement session with community leaders and members of the community to better understand community needs and community affordability,” he added.

    Eweje said: “Electricity from roof systems can improve quality of life, but only micro grids can lift people out of poverty. By allowing people to build businesses and another source of income, they improve the resilience of communities against drought or climate change.

    “WATT raises funds through Foreign Direct Investment (FID), which reduces the tariffs community members have to pay.”

    WATT, he noted, has reached an agreement to provide a Proof of Concept (PoC) to a telecoms technology provider with a view of deploying WATT hybrid energy solution to over 300 of the telecoms base stations.

    The organisation, according to him, is providing capacity building training within communities where it works to ensure the sustainability of the micro-grid.

  • Proposed review of power privatisation and citizens’ desires

    Like most citizens across the globe, most Nigerians including this writer do not understand the complexity of power generation, transmission, distribution, and delivery to the point of use. In effect, most citizens complain about unavailability of electricity when they need it, arbitrary tariff increase without connection to service improvement, and fair or estimated billing. Citizens trust a governance system that empowers their rulers to ensure that technical experts and policy wonks are up to the task of constructing policies capable of assuring citizens that their interests, among others, are duly covered by laws and regulations that guide supply of electricity, the locomotive of modernity.

    Just as it was in the days of PHCN, majority of citizens are still complaining about gross inefficiency in the delivery of power to them, since the average citizen does not have the peace of mind to worry about the number of megawatts being turned out from day to day, percentage of which is deliverable by existing infrastructure, and financial capacity of those approved to distribute power to end users.

    The privatisation of the country’s power sector, generally referenced as the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2013, though hailed at the beginning, has since been the source of doubt for the average consumer of electricity in the country, despite obvious efforts by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Ministry of Power to end what has looked for decades as an impish jinxing of a nation. Signals have been going back and forth since 2015 that the power sector privatisation would be reviewed. In this respect, citizens must have been excited by a recent announcement by the Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh, on a decision by the BPE to re-energise two sectors vital to the country’s economy: petroleum refinery and provision of uninterrupted electricity. On refinery, he has said, “Over the years, we have budgeted tons of money for Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) that did not turn anything around…. If a private sector investor is coming into that sector and he is bringing his money for the rehabilitation, you better be sure that he will get that rehabilitation done because if he does not he will lose his money.”

    It is the Director-General’s proposal to review “the power sector privatisation process” that is the focus of today’s column: “We want to help address the challenges in the downstream sector of the electricity industry. We do not take an antagonistic position against them because we believe that there are key business challenges that they are facing.” More specifically, the proposed review promises to respond to some of the problems that citizens have with the new power sector. BPE is particularly interested in a review aimed at addressing the fundamental flaws, which include enumeration of customers, provision of meters, pricing and revenues that flow from customers to suppliers under the current model of privatization. Incidentally, the Director-General’s optimism about the refinery was also expressed in relation to privatisation of power in 2013 until the devil in the details of the privatisation process revealed the weakness (or incapacitation?) of companies that came out of de-regulation of power. But it will be uplifting if the optimism about private owners of the four government refineries is made to apply to power sector privatisation process.

    It is, however, reassuring that the BPE says it will review Nigeria’s power sector privatisation process to remove fundamental laws hindering operations in the sector. But the review will have to go beyond elimination of billing challenges, improvement of metering infrastructure, and enthronement of cost-reflective pricing and tariff structure. Many citizens have expressed doubt about the philosophy that drove privatisation in the first place and the model of privatisation adopted. Such people have argued that privatisation was unduly political or politicised, and that many of the individuals favoured to inherit components of PHCN are practicing and retired politicians and their friends, rather than investors ready to commit the high level of capital and knowledge required for transition from decades of little or no electricity to one of energy security and stability. Such citizens may be wrong in their assessment of post-regulation power firms but they are yet to be proved wrong, given the situation of electricity supply in the country.

    A predominant belief among DISCOS is that citizens are too sensitive to higher tariff for electricity. Such sensitivity arises from the fact that many customers in different parts of the country experience little or no change in electricity supply and thus suspect that they are being ripped off by those calling for a tariff that reflects cost or value of service. It is the erratic nature of electricity supply that explains citizens’ seeming over sensitivity to estimated billing. And the solution to such resistance by citizens to higher tariff and even to estimated billing resides in identifying low-hanging fruits already identified by the government but unsighted by DISCOS: the magical wand hiding in provision of pre-paid metres for every customer.

    Citizens are not likely to be interested in counting of megawatts the way government does. It makes no difference to consumers that GENCOS generate 8,000 megawatts when what is distributed or distributable is 6,000 megawatts. It is megawatts that can be distributed that have meaning to customers, and this observation is not meant as a criticism of GENCOS. It is to recognise the staleness of announcing number of increase in megawatts. So is the excuse by DISCOS that estimated billing is necessitated by difficulty to get to many places not tenable.  How do DISCOS acquire the data that makes estimated billing possible for consumers living in inaccessible parts of the country? The proposed review should pay attention to another post-de-regulation billing system not mentioned in public discussion of problems in the power sector.  There are DISCOS in many parts of the country that enter into deals with estates without pre-paid meters to pay N5,000 for 10 hours of electricity supply per day for one month. Hardly do such estates receive up to 10 hours in most days, yet they are made to honour the deal, largely to avoid being denied electricity supply by the only company approved to distribute electricity in the state in which there is no competition or alternative for customers.

    One of the highpoints of marketing before the unbundling of PHCN was (and still is) that privatisation will increase competition while competition will improve efficiency, and the private power companies will, unlike the PHCN, bring electricity to customers as and when needed. This situation remains a myth even five years after the legendary de-regulation of the power sector. Finally, the division of the country into protected zones for each DISCO has not and cannot promote competitiveness on the part of DISCOS.  All DISCOS are designed as captains of seller’s market in the territory allocated to them. For example, if there is a better service being provided by the DISCO in Ifetedo in Osun State, the consumer living in Oke-Igbo across the Oni Bridge in Ondo State cannot opt to use such company. And this is because such consumers have been sentenced to economic prisons in their respective zones. Nothing kills innovation faster than monopolies.

    As the DISCOS are at present, they look more like illustrations of crony capitalism than as operators in a free market. None of them has any other company to compete with within the area of its franchise. GENCOS have more chance of learning competitiveness than the DISCOS, each of which operates as a monopoly in the state(s) allocated to it. As we had suggested in this column in the past, there is need for another utility company to provide (off-grid or new grid) electricity in each state, perhaps under the scheme of alternative or renewable energy. The kind of competition among telecommunication companies needs to exist between DISCOS. It is not healthy for customers to be captured customers in an energy economy segmented as territorial fiefdoms for favoured business owners.

     

  • Adewale to invest $3 million in power generation

    The Action Democratic Party (ADP) governorship flag bearer in Ekiti State, Otunba Segun Adewale, has expressed readiness to solve the problem of lack of electricity confronting majority of communities.

    He said inadequate power supply would discourage inflow of local and foreign investment in the state, adding that the problem could be tackled with collaboration with the private sector.

    Adewale spoke while on a campaign tour to Omuo-Ekiti and other communities in Ekiti East Local Government. He said it was unacceptable for some communities to be in darkness for as much as four years.

    He promised to invest in human capital development by training 15,000 youths every year in skills acquisition and vocations and give them soft loans to establish their businesses.

    This, according to him, would enable them to cater for their parents without having to wait for government to give them one cup of rice and beans as currently being practiced by the government of the day.

    Adewale equally pledged to tackle electricity problems regretting the fact that some communities in the state have been in total darkness for four years without any effort by the government to solve the problem.

    Poor power supply, he said, will drive investors away from Ekiti, adding that he has made projections on how to invest about $3m to generate 10 megawatts (Off grid) in each of the three senatorial districts in the state in partnership with private sector.

    Describing himself as “the best man to fix Ekiti State and bring it out of the economic doldrums”, Adewale stressed that the state needs the urgent intervention of a visionary leader in so many areas.

    Adewale said mass housing schemes are possible in the state and that it is very key to the masses who might never be able to build houses of their own in their lifetime, because of their poor take-home pay.

    He noted that a new Ekiti is possible where all will be able to grow and achieve their dreams through the concerted efforts of the people and the leaders.

  • ‘Power generation will increase by 20% in 2035’

    The Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Mr. Austin Avuru has said power generation would rise by 20 per cent by 2035.

    He noted the global trend in energy supply would increase as consumers turned to the consumption of renewables.

    “The global trend in energy supply would seem to suggest an alarmist way by 2035; perhaps, there would be no place for oil and gas in the world,’’ he said.

    He sid multinationals were investing substantial funds  away from oil and gas into renewables. ‘’Nevertheless, within Africa, we are seeing if the pace of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) improvement continues, you would see the increased consumption of energy,” he said.

    Avuru stated this while delivering a keynote speech at the West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAPIEC) in Lagos with the theme: Innovation – Sustaining West African oil and gas production through innovation and collaboration.

    He noted that generation of power was crucial to the nation’s economy. “The share of power generation is one of the key consumers’ needs. It is expected to rise by 20 per cent in 2035,” he said.

    The two-day conference, which was hosted by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PTEAN), gave energy experts an opportunity to discuss strategies and opportunities for funding local content across the region.

    At the panel discussion, it was noted that energy consumption in West Africa was very low.

    In 2017, a communiqué issued by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, at the 18th monthly power sector and stakeholders meeting had explained that as at August 10, 2017, 6803 megawatts (Mw) was recorded as the available generation capability, with a wheeling capacity of 6700Mw by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), currently constrained by the distribution companies (DisCos) inability to take load.

  • Manufacturers spend N378b on power generation

    Manufacturers spend N378b on power generation

    Manufacturers spend at least N378 billion on private electricity generation to power their operations as public grid power supply remains unreliable, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said the N378 billion was spent over the last three years. Its President, Dr Frank Udemba Jacobs, confirmed the development to The Nation.

    Jacobs said manufacturers of consumable and non-consumable products spend N126billion yearly to generate power, lamenting that the figure amounted to N378billion when multiplied by three years.

    In a telephone interview, he said the small, medium enterpries (SMEs) and multinational companies have, during  the years under review, invested substantially in gas, coal and diesel to power their operations to remain in business. He noted that gas, coal and diesel have become veritable means of providing power to the manufacturing sector. According to him, the growth of the sector has been gravely constrained by poor power supply in the country.

    He said foreign-owned companies operating in the country are begining to see the sense in investing in thermal plants in order to generate electricity as against a situation where they would be relying on power from the national grid.

    Jacobs said: “The dwindling power supply occasioned by poor generation is having undesirable effects on the nation’s manufacturing industry. Besides the fact that capacity utilisation in the sector has reduced as many manufacturing concerns have either downsized or right-sized in order to cut down cost of operation, the development has resulted in low production of goods. In order to boost operation, small, medium and bigger manufacturing companies decided to generate their own electricity using gas, coal and diesel.”

    He said MAN boasts of over 2,000 members out of which a sizeable number of manufacturers are using generators as a major means of providing power to their factories at a huge cost. Power supply from the national grid has become alternative, he lamented.

    On diesel, Jacobs said the decision by the Federal Government to crash the price of diesel by 43 per cent to N160 per litre from about N300 per litre, is laudable.

    He said diesel is the major source of providing electricity in the sector, adding that bringing the price down by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is heartwarming.

    ‘’The issue of reducing the price of diesel to N160 per litre by the  government has delighted both private and non- private sector operators as the idea would help in reducing  cost of  operation and increase growth and productivity,” he added.

    He said MAN would meet to discuss how much  would be saved in view of recent reduction in the price of the product. He urged the Federal Government to fix the problems in the power sector and return it to optimal performance.

    Power, he said, drives modern economies globally, stressing that the only way to improve the contributions of both the oil and non-oil sectors of the economy to the  Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is to develop the power sector. He said when this is acheived, the economy would grow well and  jobs will be created for the youths.

  • Infrastructure, funding constrain power generation

    Infrastructure, funding constrain power generation

    The association of power generation companies (APGC) at the weekend said the country cannot enjoy more than 4,600megawaats (Mw) of electricity despite its capacity to produce 12,000Mw.

    It lamented that paucity of funds to buy feed stock (gas) to power the turbines has also constrained the ability of the power firms to generate more power.

    Its Executive Secretary Joy Ogaji, said the transmission infrastructure that would take power to the distribution companies have limited capacity to do that.

    She said: “They have an available capacity of 8,000Mw. Out of that 8,000Mw, the transmission company or the transporter that can take this power from us to give to the distributor claim they have a maximum capacity of 5,500Mw but we believe they can’t take more than 4,500Mw.

    “A system stress test that was conducted on the distribution lines showed that the distribution companies (DisCos), can take a maximum of 4,600Mw. With the available capacity, I have 8,000Mw if I say okay, come and take no one can take.”

    Ogaji attributed the reduction in power generation, despite capacity to produce more, to insufficient funds to purchase gas needed at power plants.

    “For now we don’t have vandalism problem but inability to pay for gas. How do we pay for the gas (when) my people were paid a week ago for the electricity generated in January?

    “And when they put 100 per cent on the grid, maximally they have been paid 30 per cent of the money. This is one of the issues. As we speak, the sector owes the generation companies about N600 billion unpaid for power that have been generated and already been consumed.”

    Ogaji said GenCos were ready to advance power generation in the country, adding that it was important to overhaul the transmission and distribution networks in the country to facilitate the supply of more electricity.

    “Now Federal Government announced on March 1, that they are bringing N701 billion for the generation companies. Where is this money? We have written to government, please show us where this money is,” she said.