The
Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday revealed that 10,
000 Mega Watts (MW) of electricity is stranded in Nigeria, noting that on daily basis the
country records 2,000MW that is not delivered to the national grid.
The
Nation reports NERC Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Mr. Ibrahim Abba, made
the disclosure during the closing ceremony of (2012/2013) NERC Fellowship
Programme at Abuja. According to him, the country has found itself in a state
of insufficient power supply because of its adoption of only the conventional
energy system-gas and hydro. He said: “In Nigeria, we are suffering today
because we have taken the plan to put all our eggs in one basket. We have
10,000MW sitting literally doing nothing in Nigeria. Everyday we have 2,000MW
plus not being delivered to the grid. So it is really a management issue. There
is no country that has a very good energy system without diversifying its
energy mix.”
Abba
was reacting to the advice of Prof. Joseph Ojo, one of the winners of the
Fellowship Programme.
Ojo
had maintained that there is a misconception that renewable energy will solve
the Nigeria’s energy problem, but the country needs to still depend on
conventional electricity. According to him, Nigeria lacks the expertise for the
adoption of renewable energy. He added that from his observation, the
technology of renewable energy (solar energy) in Nigeria is obsolete. Ojo, who
is a professor in the Engineering Department of the Tennessee Tech University,
Cookeville, the United States, said: “I read Nigerian newspapers everyday.
It is like there is a misconception in this country that the renewable energy
system is going to solve our problem. It will not solve it. You should
understand that in order to sell things in Nigeria, they say solar is this and
that. And a lot of governors say they want to do this and do that. It is not
going to solve our problem.”
Asked
what is the capacity of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) that is
charge of wheeling power to the electricity distribution companies, the NERC
chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi, told journalists that the undelivered power could be
due to lack of gas or transmission constraints.
He
revealed that the result of the performance of the Manitoba Hydro International
(MHI) that has handled the management contract of the TCN in the last three
years has not been satisfactory.
His
words: “So, the result so far, we are not satisfied really with the improvement
in transmission. It has not moved as fast as expected.”
Amadi,
who said that the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has always admitted
that the sector has a transmission challenge, stressed that the stranded power
places a question mark on the performance of the MHI.
He
added that “Right now, the ministry and the BPE that signed that contract are
reviewing their performance.
“That review indicates
whether there will be extension in the contract because after three years, you
review for an extension for two years.”
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