With about 77 million people in Nigeria still in darkness, access to electricity in the region is of critical concern. The current dismal supply has been attributed as a primary limiting factor for the operational capacity of several sectors, particularly the health sector. A recent study indicates that about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s healthcare centres lack access to electricity.
In closing this energy deficit gap for medical centres, the federal government, development agencies and private sector investors have begun several initiatives to improve the energy conditions of health systems. This article highlights the various energy delivery models and the facilities where it is best suited.
- Conventional Equipment Ownership (CEO) model: The donor agency provides the initial capital for system installation (mostly as grants) in this deployment model. The funding is provided to a private sector player or a non-governmental organisation to install the energy systems. This model is convenient for health centres with small solar home systems (SHS). It usually requires minimal operations and maintenance. An example is the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to deploy SHS to 200 primary health centres. One advantage of this model is that the funding is targeted, hastens deployment, and eliminates the burden of raising finance for public or private stakeholders. However, because it is viewed as a donation, the users have little or no conscious effort to maintain the system.
- Service-Based model: This energy delivery method involves an agreement between a public agency and a service provider. The service provider is responsible for the system’s design, procurement, installation, and maintenance. The power generated is then sold under the agreement to medical centres. This kind of delivery is well suited for general hospitals due to their energy consumption capacity and payment guarantee. A typical example of this model is seen in Oyo state Nigeria. Havenhill Energy provides the power for the health facilities, and the government of Oyo state pays for the energy supplied. A benefit of this model is that the ownership and responsibility of the system are clearly defined. On the downside, project sustainability is highly dependent on the terms of agreement between the provider and the governing body. In addition, a change in government can easily affect the project.
- Hybrid Model: This model combines conventional equipment ownership and service-based models. The hybrid model operates with increased use of blended financing from development agencies and private and public investments. In this model, there is a reduced risk of failed contracts in case of a change in administration. Also, the funds are managed by a dedicated project management unit. However, it is hard to determine the consistency of contributions from public agencies needed to sustain and build the confidence of private sector players.
Irrespective of the service deployment model being utilised, it is important that the impact of the solution being provided is felt and the project is sustainable.