Soon after he assumed office as president in May 2010, following the death of then-President Yar’Adua, President Goodluck Jonathan took measures on improving power generation, transmission and distribution.
On August 26, 2010 in Lagos, Jonathan inaugurated the Roadmap for Power Sector Reforms, where he said, “By God’s grace, by December 2012, Nigeria will not only celebrate one day of uninterrupted electricity supply, but we would celebrate one week, one month and so on of uninterrupted electricity supply.”
But four years on, Nigeria is still struggling with just 3,800 megawatts of electricity distributed among its 170 million poeple.
Many have expressed doubts over the attainment of a total transformation in the power sector. However, this is not to say the administration has not done well in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
During his numerous campaign tours to various states across the zones, President Jonathan promised significantly improved power supply through government’s construction of 10 National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) gas-fired plants.
The Roadmap
Based on the 2010 Power Roadmap and privatisation plans, Jonathan promised to provide stable power supply by the year 2015 so that small and medium scale industries can thrive again; ensure that Nigerians do not use generators more than two times in a week; explore the coal deposits in Benue and Kogi states for improved power supply; construct more dams to build more hydro-power stations; reduce the importation of generators by at least 90 percent in the ensuing four years; raise power generation to about 4,747 megawatts by December 2011; and end epileptic power supply in the country just as fuel queues at petrol stations were ended.
However, as the last lap of the president’s four-year term begins from today, Nigerians are raising more questions, seeking for answers as to whether the mouth-watering promises have been fulfilled.
Electricity status
Investigations revealed that government kindled its effort to meet the pledge of stable power supply with a resultant increase in power capacity from the previous 3,600mw. Power capacity rose to about 4,200mw till December 2011 but was below the promise of 4,747mw that was made. Former Minster of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, in February 2012 said the nation’s power stood at an increasing capacity of 4,400megawatts, adding that power generation had increased by more than 40 percent since President Jonathan was elected in May, 2011.
However, many places in the country witnessed protracted blackouts arising from incessant collapse of the country’s grid system. The Kano, Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution companies (Discos) continued to groan over what they described as poor grid allocation which invariably hinders the constant supply of electricity to their service areas.
While moving on with the power privatisation process early in 2013, Prof. Nnaji resigned amidst controversies and the power situation worsened with supply dropping to 3,224.3mw but later increased to about 3,443mw in the second half of the year.
Statistics from the National Control Centre (NCC) of transmission in Osogbo revealed that there were 39 and 42 system failures between 2009 and 2010 respectively, 19 system collapses in 2011 and 24 of such cases in 2012.
Following the coming of Prof. Chinedu Nebo as Power Minister in June 2013, over 15 collapses were recorded last year, bringing it to a total of more than 139 transmission system collapses experienced within five years. Major reasons ascribed to the cases were overloading of the electricity grid, vandalism, weak transmission towers, obsolete power infrastructure and a sharp decline of human capacity.
Success came for the administration when it finally completed the unbundling of the PHCN and then privatised 15 of its power utilities, as envisaged in the road map to provide constant power supply. The privatisation exercise by November 1, 2013 saw the handover of four electricity generation companies and 10 distribution companies to private investors while the transmission network was left in the hands of government.
To allay the fears of the public that the public transmission sector may not be a match for the anticipated private-sector driven electricity industry, government contracted Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) of Canada in 2012 to help transform the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
All these are to ensure that power generation steeply rises to over 4,000mw but records on generation capacity generation obtained from the Ministry of Power in December 2013, after the handover, showed that electricity generation dropped by about 954mw.
Although it once stood at a significant 4,517mw, in December 2012, it had dropped to a fluctuating 3,563mw by December 2013, with the ministry attributing the drop to vandalism and shortage of gas.
Not deterred, stakeholders are optimistic that generation may rise and hopefully engender the promises of constant and stable supply in the now private sector-led power sector. Records of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) show that there are 57 licensed generation companies that could produce a total of 26,093mw of on-grid electricity when efficiently put to use.
The 26,000mw generating plants comprise the seven privatised government generation assets, the yet-to-be privatised 10 National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs), and two generating plants under the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Others are primarily the assets of various Independent Power Plants (IPPs).
On the provision of stable power by 2015 to boost small and medium scale industries, a major indicator on that is the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) initiated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in 2008. The reviewed MYTO 2 became effective in June 2012, but with an attendant increase in electricity bills. The last major review before 2015 sets in, which would be effective by June 1, has also recorded an increase which does not truly encourage a thriving industrial economy.
More so, government leveraging on the growth of small and medium enterprises had lowered the cost of fixed charges for ‘D2 Customers’ under the SME category in 2013. Data from NERC revealed that prior to the reduction, the D2 customers’ fixed charges ranged between N86,956 to N139,466 depending on the distribution company, but to encourage the development of local industries, the commission reduced the fixed charge for the group to 25 percent.
Early in January, President Jonathan further issued a directive to the new owners of the privatised power assets investors to ensure visible and significant improvement in power supply in the country by June this year with a target of 14 hours electricity for consumers who were already getting 12 hours supply, while major cities including Abuja and Lagos were to have up to 22 to 23hours daily supply. This is yet to happen, with just 3,800mw in the nation’s grid even as June draws nearer.
President Jonathan also in his bid to provide electricity for rural areas adopted the solar lighting technology when he flagged off the Operation Light-up Rural Nigeria (ORLN) in Durumi village of Abuja last January.
Prof. Nebo had said the community centre which houses a solar-kiosk and other lighting installations would facilitate job creation/business growth, adding that they will be replicated in most communities across the country. This is still on the rack as it is yet to be replicated in other states of the federation.
As the ultimatum of June 2014 for significant power improvement approaches, consumers are anxiously waiting to experience it in the face of a rise in electricity tariff. Prof. Nebo had attributed earlier hitches to constant supply of electricity to sabotage and teething problems in the newly privatised industries, but that is well over six months and such cases ought to have improved.
Generator ban?
Another significant power promise was that the administration will reduce the importation of generators at least 90 percent in the next four years, and ensure that Nigerians do not use generators more than twice a week. Analysts have continued to argue on this point as no legislation has been passed to ban generator importation.
Prof. Nebo while addressing pressmen in December 2013 had said he has no generator at his Ministers’ Hills residence and at the Ministry of Power and expressed hope that shortly, consumers will resort to being satisfied with power supply thereby drastically cutting down the use of generators which research shows has many negative consequences on health.
An official in the Ministry of Power, who spoke in confidence, said President Jonathan may not ban generator importation but would strive to ensure that power supply gradually stabilises which will dissuade generator importation.
But recent Daily Trust checks revealed that the use of generating plants and their importation is on the increase due to poor electricity supply which is deteriorating even with the privatisation.
Other alternative power sources, including coal-to-power, are yet to be fully harnessed contrary to the manifesto. Although the federal government constituted a committee on Coal-to-Power early in July 2013 to carry out site mapping of coal deposits in Nigeria said to be large enough to provide electricity to the nation for the next 20-30 years, much is yet to be heard on this.
Part of the transformation promises is Jonathan’s bid to construct more dams and hydro-power stations. The president in May 2013 flagged off the construction of the 700mw Zungeru hydro dam in Niger State whose plan had remained fallow since 1982.
The dam construction, which is to gulp N162.9 billion, had a four-year completion period by Messrs Synohydro Corporation and China Nation Electrical Engineering Corporation Consortium in collaboration with local engineers.
Officials had said equipment was moved to site, including surveys and mappings, and relocation and compensation for the affected communities processed by the power ministry since February. But the biggest and most anticipated 3,000mw Mambilla hydro-power dam in Taraba State which the administration promised to flag off is still fallow.
While President Jonathan in his Roadmap to Power promised increased electricity generation, report obtained from the Presidential Task Force on Power in November 2013 showed that though the country’s peak demand level forecast was 12,800mw, energy generation capacity stood at about 3,559.46mw per hour (MWH/H), while actual electricity sent out into the national grid was 3,487.85mw/h.
However, statistics from the transmission national control centre in Osogbo, Osun State last weekend showed that generated capacity is still around 3,800mw. Government’s target of additional 4,700mw drawn from the 10 NIPPs which it said would be completed in the first quarter of 2014 is still foot-dragging due to vandalism and poor gas supply to the plants. As at today, only the 437mw Geregu and 500mw Omotosho NIPP have been commissioned with the other eight plants still being hampered by inadequate gas supply.
But four years on, Nigeria is still struggling with just 3,800 megawatts of electricity distributed among its 170 million poeple.
Many have expressed doubts over the attainment of a total transformation in the power sector. However, this is not to say the administration has not done well in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
During his numerous campaign tours to various states across the zones, President Jonathan promised significantly improved power supply through government’s construction of 10 National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) gas-fired plants.
The Roadmap
Based on the 2010 Power Roadmap and privatisation plans, Jonathan promised to provide stable power supply by the year 2015 so that small and medium scale industries can thrive again; ensure that Nigerians do not use generators more than two times in a week; explore the coal deposits in Benue and Kogi states for improved power supply; construct more dams to build more hydro-power stations; reduce the importation of generators by at least 90 percent in the ensuing four years; raise power generation to about 4,747 megawatts by December 2011; and end epileptic power supply in the country just as fuel queues at petrol stations were ended.
However, as the last lap of the president’s four-year term begins from today, Nigerians are raising more questions, seeking for answers as to whether the mouth-watering promises have been fulfilled.
Electricity status
Investigations revealed that government kindled its effort to meet the pledge of stable power supply with a resultant increase in power capacity from the previous 3,600mw. Power capacity rose to about 4,200mw till December 2011 but was below the promise of 4,747mw that was made. Former Minster of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, in February 2012 said the nation’s power stood at an increasing capacity of 4,400megawatts, adding that power generation had increased by more than 40 percent since President Jonathan was elected in May, 2011.
However, many places in the country witnessed protracted blackouts arising from incessant collapse of the country’s grid system. The Kano, Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution companies (Discos) continued to groan over what they described as poor grid allocation which invariably hinders the constant supply of electricity to their service areas.
While moving on with the power privatisation process early in 2013, Prof. Nnaji resigned amidst controversies and the power situation worsened with supply dropping to 3,224.3mw but later increased to about 3,443mw in the second half of the year.
Statistics from the National Control Centre (NCC) of transmission in Osogbo revealed that there were 39 and 42 system failures between 2009 and 2010 respectively, 19 system collapses in 2011 and 24 of such cases in 2012.
Following the coming of Prof. Chinedu Nebo as Power Minister in June 2013, over 15 collapses were recorded last year, bringing it to a total of more than 139 transmission system collapses experienced within five years. Major reasons ascribed to the cases were overloading of the electricity grid, vandalism, weak transmission towers, obsolete power infrastructure and a sharp decline of human capacity.
Success came for the administration when it finally completed the unbundling of the PHCN and then privatised 15 of its power utilities, as envisaged in the road map to provide constant power supply. The privatisation exercise by November 1, 2013 saw the handover of four electricity generation companies and 10 distribution companies to private investors while the transmission network was left in the hands of government.
To allay the fears of the public that the public transmission sector may not be a match for the anticipated private-sector driven electricity industry, government contracted Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) of Canada in 2012 to help transform the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
All these are to ensure that power generation steeply rises to over 4,000mw but records on generation capacity generation obtained from the Ministry of Power in December 2013, after the handover, showed that electricity generation dropped by about 954mw.
Although it once stood at a significant 4,517mw, in December 2012, it had dropped to a fluctuating 3,563mw by December 2013, with the ministry attributing the drop to vandalism and shortage of gas.
Not deterred, stakeholders are optimistic that generation may rise and hopefully engender the promises of constant and stable supply in the now private sector-led power sector. Records of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) show that there are 57 licensed generation companies that could produce a total of 26,093mw of on-grid electricity when efficiently put to use.
The 26,000mw generating plants comprise the seven privatised government generation assets, the yet-to-be privatised 10 National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs), and two generating plants under the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Others are primarily the assets of various Independent Power Plants (IPPs).
On the provision of stable power by 2015 to boost small and medium scale industries, a major indicator on that is the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) initiated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in 2008. The reviewed MYTO 2 became effective in June 2012, but with an attendant increase in electricity bills. The last major review before 2015 sets in, which would be effective by June 1, has also recorded an increase which does not truly encourage a thriving industrial economy.
More so, government leveraging on the growth of small and medium enterprises had lowered the cost of fixed charges for ‘D2 Customers’ under the SME category in 2013. Data from NERC revealed that prior to the reduction, the D2 customers’ fixed charges ranged between N86,956 to N139,466 depending on the distribution company, but to encourage the development of local industries, the commission reduced the fixed charge for the group to 25 percent.
Early in January, President Jonathan further issued a directive to the new owners of the privatised power assets investors to ensure visible and significant improvement in power supply in the country by June this year with a target of 14 hours electricity for consumers who were already getting 12 hours supply, while major cities including Abuja and Lagos were to have up to 22 to 23hours daily supply. This is yet to happen, with just 3,800mw in the nation’s grid even as June draws nearer.
President Jonathan also in his bid to provide electricity for rural areas adopted the solar lighting technology when he flagged off the Operation Light-up Rural Nigeria (ORLN) in Durumi village of Abuja last January.
Prof. Nebo had said the community centre which houses a solar-kiosk and other lighting installations would facilitate job creation/business growth, adding that they will be replicated in most communities across the country. This is still on the rack as it is yet to be replicated in other states of the federation.
As the ultimatum of June 2014 for significant power improvement approaches, consumers are anxiously waiting to experience it in the face of a rise in electricity tariff. Prof. Nebo had attributed earlier hitches to constant supply of electricity to sabotage and teething problems in the newly privatised industries, but that is well over six months and such cases ought to have improved.
Generator ban?
Another significant power promise was that the administration will reduce the importation of generators at least 90 percent in the next four years, and ensure that Nigerians do not use generators more than twice a week. Analysts have continued to argue on this point as no legislation has been passed to ban generator importation.
Prof. Nebo while addressing pressmen in December 2013 had said he has no generator at his Ministers’ Hills residence and at the Ministry of Power and expressed hope that shortly, consumers will resort to being satisfied with power supply thereby drastically cutting down the use of generators which research shows has many negative consequences on health.
An official in the Ministry of Power, who spoke in confidence, said President Jonathan may not ban generator importation but would strive to ensure that power supply gradually stabilises which will dissuade generator importation.
But recent Daily Trust checks revealed that the use of generating plants and their importation is on the increase due to poor electricity supply which is deteriorating even with the privatisation.
Other alternative power sources, including coal-to-power, are yet to be fully harnessed contrary to the manifesto. Although the federal government constituted a committee on Coal-to-Power early in July 2013 to carry out site mapping of coal deposits in Nigeria said to be large enough to provide electricity to the nation for the next 20-30 years, much is yet to be heard on this.
Part of the transformation promises is Jonathan’s bid to construct more dams and hydro-power stations. The president in May 2013 flagged off the construction of the 700mw Zungeru hydro dam in Niger State whose plan had remained fallow since 1982.
The dam construction, which is to gulp N162.9 billion, had a four-year completion period by Messrs Synohydro Corporation and China Nation Electrical Engineering Corporation Consortium in collaboration with local engineers.
Officials had said equipment was moved to site, including surveys and mappings, and relocation and compensation for the affected communities processed by the power ministry since February. But the biggest and most anticipated 3,000mw Mambilla hydro-power dam in Taraba State which the administration promised to flag off is still fallow.
While President Jonathan in his Roadmap to Power promised increased electricity generation, report obtained from the Presidential Task Force on Power in November 2013 showed that though the country’s peak demand level forecast was 12,800mw, energy generation capacity stood at about 3,559.46mw per hour (MWH/H), while actual electricity sent out into the national grid was 3,487.85mw/h.
However, statistics from the transmission national control centre in Osogbo, Osun State last weekend showed that generated capacity is still around 3,800mw. Government’s target of additional 4,700mw drawn from the 10 NIPPs which it said would be completed in the first quarter of 2014 is still foot-dragging due to vandalism and poor gas supply to the plants. As at today, only the 437mw Geregu and 500mw Omotosho NIPP have been commissioned with the other eight plants still being hampered by inadequate gas supply.
Daily Trust
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