Lateef Onikoyi, a former Consultant to the River State Ministry of Power, has said that the Nigerian government has not added value to the country’s electricity value chain. He said this during a July 8 Arise Television interview.
Onikoyi was addressing President Tinubu’s recent directive to the National Economic Committee to take Nigeria from 4,500 megawatts to 6000 megawatts in six months! Recently, President Tinubu said it is shameful that the country still battles with the former despite its huge population growth indices.
No value addition
According to Onikoyi, the task is not as easy as it seems. This is because most of the equipment needed to upgrade infrastructure is not on the shelf; they must be designed, manufactured and imported, and all these will require time. He said the government has not added any value to the country’s electrical value chain.
Onikoyi stated further that the Egbin Power plant, the biggest in the country, operates at less than 30 per cent efficiency, even though the plant is about 40 years old. He also said that since 1982, Nigeria’s transmission network has not been extended, and the government keeps talking about increasing on-grid electricity access. He said states can partake in the market by having their network, but he questioned their capacity.
Meanwhile, Rumundaka Wonodi, the CEO of ZKJ Energy Partners, said that having an adequate transmission and distribution network is key to moving the needle and getting Nigeria to 6000 megawatts so that when the power is generated, we can push 6000 megawatts through the on-grid system.
He also noted that the country needs an adequate gas supply in the generation companies for this to happen. He highlighted the fact that firm contracts, not interruptible contracts on gas supply, will lead to this reality.
“Firm contracts that guarantee gas supply going to these generation companies and that supply must be paid for,” he stated. According to Wonodi, these actions can be taken under strong leadership and focus on the right things.
Decentralising the grid
While speaking to frequent grid collapses, Wonodi said: “If you are generating about 4000 megawatts, you should have up to 5 or 10 per cent spinning reserve that would be idling.”
He explained further that when the national grid lost about 313 megawatts on Saturday, July 6, the grid should have held steady with the backup energy if that was the case in the country. He also said that the country is already battling with power to generate and distribute, so it is difficult to make a case for backup power that is idling to be used when the grid experiences a partial collapse.
However, Wonodi said he does not believe decentralising Nigeria’s grid will increase power reliability. He said that if state governments believe they have the capital to invest in their state grids, it is a good way to start decentralising the grid. He, however, said that many investments need to be made to have a standard state grid.
Citing the Aba Independent Power Project (IPP), Wonodi said the IPP could be a realistic model for other states. He noted, however, that that level of project requires a lot of investments, and all states in the country have to recognise that they will have to build new transmission lines and upgrade their distribution infrastructure to make it work.