By Giwa Suliat Bolaji (SIWES student, D S Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic)
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) express concern over the loss of significant customers due to grid unreliability, revealing that investor funds meant for improving the network were diverted to settle PHCN workers.
The concerns are outlined in a communique from the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) Market Participants and Stakeholders Roundtable, emphasizing the urgent need for substantial investment to upgrade infrastructure and enhance operational efficiency.
The communique highlights the inefficacy of changing DisCos ownership without targeted funds, stressing that interventions must focus on specific deliverables.
Solutions proposed include converting simple cycles to combined cycles for environmentally friendly generation and awarding gas blocks with incentives to attract upstream gas players.
The stakeholders advocate for a contractual market, fair tariff structures, and increased pipeline connectivity to address challenges in gas-to-power.
Addressing power distribution issues, the stakeholders call on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to implement a cost-reflective tariff structure.
They emphasize the importance of energy efficiency programs, smart meter deployment, and accurate billing. The strategy proposed for metering involves a city-to-city approach similar to mobile phone companies’ deployment, aiming for 100% metering coverage.
To ensure power transmission and grid stability, the stakeholders recommend expanding and upgrading transmission and distribution networks.
They stress the immediate rollout of Independent System Operator (ISO) at the competition stage and call for the corporatization and commercialization of ISO.
Additionally, they emphasize the necessity of interconnection, capacity increase, and securing longer-term, lower-interest capital in domestic currency for the power sector.
In conclusion, the stakeholders urge the Federal Government to incentivize local and foreign investments in power infrastructure, utilizing pension funds for infrastructure development with risk mitigation measures in place.
