In the next five years, global leaders in the power sector are investing over $50 billion in Nigeria. This is coming at a time the sector’s privatisation is being completed and many expect things should look up. But unless the problem of gas shortage caused by pipeline vandalism is tackled, not much will change, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU.
It was in far away Davos, Switzerland. On the sideline of the World Economic Forum WEF), it emerged that in the next five years, Nigeria might get over $80 billion worth of investments to boost industrial development.
Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga?, on Friday, gave the sources of the investments as Chinese Company China Power International Development Ltd., Siemens AG, General Electric Co. and Brazil’s Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA. They have all pledged to invest “over $50 billion alone” in Nigeria’s power industry.
The additional funding will come from Dangote Group, and auto companies that want to set up local assembly plants.
Most of these investments interestingly are aimed at tackling the power generation and supply challenges.
The revelation is coming at a time when the country’s largest power plant in Egbin, on the outskirts of Lagos, has lost 480 megawatts of power to inadequate gas supply. The power plant, with an installed capacity of 1,320MW, has had one of its six turbines down for some time leaving the available capacity at 1,080MW. Gas shortage has further reduced this. Last month, there was a time its output went as low as 300MW due to acute gas shortage.
The electricity challenge in the country has led to a situation where individuals and businesses generate their own power. At the last count, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said no fewer than 60 million Nigerians own power generating sets, requiring more than N1.56 trillion to fuel them yearly.
These statistics got President Goodluck Jonathan talking not long ago. Jonathan said: “Our children must not live in a country where they get individual generators to generate light for them. This government is ensuring the regulation of the power sector to ensure power for all.”
The seriousness of the challenge becomes more scary given the fact that the country is losing the few it is generating when it is nowhere near what it needs.
Speaking to a visiting business delegation from Britain, led by the lord mayor of the city of London, Roger Grifford, Minister of Power Chinedu Nebo hinted that the nation needs about 200,000 megawatts before it can realise its dream of adequate power supply.
“Nigeria needs to generate over 200,000 megawatts. We are still at less than 5,000MW. Within a year, we should be upping this to 10,000 and it is still a far cry,” he said.
No doubt, the private sector is bothered by the gas shortage challenge. The Managing Director, Korea Electric Power Nigeria Limited, the technical partner and managers of the Egbin Power Station, Gyoo Chull Yeom, said private sector investment was being threatened by the huge gas supply gap in the country.
He said: “Gas is not coming and without this, the power plant cannot operate optimally. Even if you bring the most modern technology and carry out repairs, without adequate supply of gas, there will still be problem. Gas supply is very important to the Nigerian power sector because almost 80 per cent of the power plants in the country are gas-fired. Inadequate gas supply is a big problem for Nigeria. Even with the private sector investment, if there is no enough gas supply, there will still be problems.
“Yes, there are challenges bordering on infrastructure and human capital that will require time to overcome. We will need the patience and support of all Nigerians as we work towards overcoming these challenges with innovation, commitment and determination.”
Some of the power plants worst hit by shortage of gas supply include the 434 megawatts Geregu 1 Power Station in Kogi State, which generates less than half of installed capacity and the Geregu NIPP plant, which operates at the same installed capacity but no gas to fire the turbines.
Others include Delta Power Station, Sapele NIPP, Olorunsogo I and II in Ogun State, and Omotosho I and II in Ondo State.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has blamed the shortage of gas on pipeline vandalism.
Speaking at a news confer
ence last Monday, at the
NNPC Towers, Abuja, Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr Andrew Yakubu, said over 30 per cent of the installed gas supply capacity was out as a result of vandalism.
Yakubu said the lost gas was the equivalent to the gas requirement to generate about 1,600 megawatts of electricity, while about N800 million was spent recently to repair sabotaged gas pipelines.
The corporation listed the pipelines involved to include the Escravos-Warri stretch of the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System and the Trans-Forcados crude pipeline.
He said: “The remaining supply shortfall is due to maintenance issues at Utorogu gas plant. The outage of the ELPS A pipeline has been on for over six months, due to a willful act of vandalism at various locations between Escravos and Egwa location.”
He said on June 25, last year, an explosion rocked the ELPS.
Dynamite, he said, were used on four ruptured points. The Nigeria Gas Company had discovered low pressure on its pipelines on the Warri-Escravos-Lagos lines. On inspection, it was discovered that a hole had been blown through one of the lines. Repair work was started. After the repairs, they began testing and discovered that the pressure required had not returned. On further inspection, they discovered three other holes similar to the original one. More and more holes were discovered and repairs have not been completed.
Nebo said no less than 20 of such holes have been discovered. Incidentally, all the holes were created by dynamites. More heart rending is the fact that most of them are created in the deep waters of the sea, where the pipelines are buried.
The minister has been crying out about the dangers gas pipeline vandalism has constituted. According to him, nothing less than 1000megawatts have been lost.
He said: “Yes, you know the devil comes as human beings. We are fighting them daily. What do you think of oil thieves? They are demons in human forms. What do you think of those who vandalise our gas pipelines? They are demons and we are dealing with them. I engaged the services of the National Security Adviser, who engaged the services of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps and also the Army. And that is the reason that there has been a substantial improvement in the security of our transmission and distribution infrastructure.
“What we have today is whenever you hear of theft and stealing and vandalism, it is so much less than what it used to be before. The major problem is the oil and gas pipelines. People actually go to gas pipelines and blow them up, not to get anything but to punish Nigerians. Are they not demons? So, I am doing everything to drive them out, using all kinds of legal, military and prayers, because some of them are so demon-possessed we have to exorcise them. Somebody who will punish himself, punish his mother, punish his father, punish his children and punish the whole country for nothing; in that not a demon? Is he a real human being? So, my brother, there are demons there and I am still dealing with them.
“I believe that vandalism, by the time we get the legal framework completed, people should be punished. In fact, they can be punished under Miscellaneous Act because this is a sabotage of the entire national economy. And the people who do this should be made to pay dearly for it.
“The oil thieves have learned how to make quick money which I call blood money because when they vandalise these pipelines, especially the ones associated with gas, we lose gas supply, gas doesn’t go to the turbines. Many people don’t even realise that it is not only the power sector that suffers. If there is no gas, we cannot produce fertiliser and if there is no fertiliser, the farmers cannot get the agricultural input that they need in time when it is needed. What is the result? Crop failure across the land.
“So, these saboteurs and these oil thieves are really bleeding, causing the economy to hemorrhage. They are bleeding the Nigerian economy. The one of the gas pipeline is horrible because they are not doing it for money they are making. It is sabotage. They go there, target spots, very remote places along the entire line of gas pipeline and use dynamite, detonate these dynamites, blow up gas pipelines. At the end of the day, it takes months upon months to repair these things. The more you repair them, the more you discover more holes. We are right now battling with over 20 holes, dynamite holes in Warri-Escravos line. Can you imagine that? All done to sabotage this country, to make sure that people think President Jonathan is doing nothing whereas, if we had gas, we would easily be generating 1000 megawatts more than we are generating now if not for this sabotage. So, it is a painful thing.”
There is also the problem of cannibalising transformers, steal copper. Those behind this cut copper and sell the coppers as scraps for N10,000 and knock out more than 1million people from power for a month. At the end of the day, it cost the distribution company N27million to fix what has been destroyed.
On October 22, last year, at Karu, a suburb of Abuja, during the commissioning of the $6.6 million World Bank assisted 2x60MVA, 132/33kV Transmission Sub-Station, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, spoke of how critical vandalism has become. He said the perpetrators appear to have changed gear and upped the ante in their desperate bid to undermine the power reform programme of the Federal Government.
“How could someone go under water and blast gas pipelines channelling gas to turbines built to generate electricity? Recently these unscrupulous elements went under water and blew up these pipelines with dynamites. At six points under water. These are some of the problems we have been battling, but which we are not letting out to the public. Can these acts by be explained or justified by any stretch of argument? Are these people who perpetrate these acts not some of the worst enemies of the country? Is this not the most classic case of cutting your nose to spite your face? These people must be fished out and dealt with. They are not just ordinary people, because it takes a lot to carry out that level of activity.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has been doing a lot to fulfil his promise of giving uninterrupted power to Nigerians. The evidence of the success is already everywhere. But there are people who are determined to ensure that these efforts do not succeed. We must stop these people because they are dangerous to the society.”
On Friday, November 8, last
year, at Ayede, Ibadan,
Oyo State, during the inauguration of a similar project, Igali said: “Let Nigerians be assured that this country has entered a time in our history that nobody can take our hands back in power supply. Nigeria will no longer be dark. Our private sector has shown its energy in other sectors. There were days when you go to the bank, queue up and collect a teller, then you go to your house and sleep and keep somebody there to find out whether it is your turn, but today you go to the bank if you have to and within few seconds you are through; today, from your mobile phone you can conclude all transactions. It was not angels from heaven that came to do it, it was Nigerians. It is the same thing with telecommunications. Today you can pick up your mobile phone and call anywhere in the world. It was not angels from heaven that did it, it was Nigerians. Now Mr. President, with courage has said we can do it as well in the power sector and started this process of transformation, this process of change and this process of innovation and challenged the private sector to come and make this huge investment. The only thing we can do is to support this whole idea and the courageous steps of the President to transform this country. We must ensure that these facilities are safe and that we stop these saboteurs by exposing them.”
Nebo reminded Nigerians about past doubts over the possibility of a successful privatisation of the power sector and how they have effectively been dispelled.
“There is no doubt that the President has shown clear vision and determination. There is no doubt that he has kept his eyes on the ball. The result has translated to the success of one of the most historic transformation events any country could carry out. At first many people had argued that it was not possible. The international community in sheer amazement of this feat tagged it ‘simultaneous sequentiality.’ Therefore, every Nigerian who loves this country ought to see where the President is going and support him. This we can do by ensuring that we do not destroy facilities, we do not look the other way when we see them being destroyed. The more we preserve these projects, the more we say thank you to Mr. President and the more the nation forges ahead,” he said.
However, the vandals must be tamed because only then can real success be made and the investment of the private sector will not go under.
