How Can Nigeria Solve Power Problems, Meet Energy Demands?

Electricity in the country has been epileptic in the past month and it has been blamed on poor supply from the country’s national grid. Power generation companies have also attributed the issues to the N1.6 trillion debt owed to them by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc.

Nigeria has a long history of inability to meet the power supply demands of the country. A Dataphyte report had earlier noted that only 55.4% have access to electricity as at 2019, and although 2000 megawatts is generated everyday, about 26% of that is not utilised.

Although the country plans to generate 3000 megawatts from renewable energy by 2030 and hopes to hit 27,000 megawatts from its power plants, a  review of the International Renewable Agency Data shows that the country has not maximised existing capacity to meet current power needs. 

An energy expert, Brain David-West, while speaking with Dataphyte noted that there is a need for the country to have data-driven discussions on key solutions to the myriad of challenges facing the electricity sector. He spoke about issues bothering on infrastructure, distribution of available megawatts of electricity generated and banking on alternate sources of energy to solve the country’s electricity challenges. According to him, it is important to have solutions that are backed up by data and not just assumptions.

David-West noted that transmission and distribution lines in Nigeria are dilapidated thereby causing an infrastructural gap for the power sector. Some other issues facing the country’s electricity sector include poor gas supply and hydropower sources refusing to fire up as they ought to.

The energy expert expressed concerns that Nigeria is not producing enough to meet the growing demands in the country.

On the ways forward, David-West stated that there is a need to have policies that help the energy sector and emphasised the importance of monitoring key players in the sector.

Citing an instance in respect to distribution, he said distribution companies fail to supply electricity appropriately. He opined that even the electricity generated by Nigeria is not properly distributed, according to him, there is a need to monitor the distribution of electricity to customers to ensure that the power supplied to distribution companies is properly distributed in the ways that it should be.

“Distribution companies’ fail to meet up their responsibilities to consumers especially when it is stated that consumers will only pay for what they have used but how power is distributed in the country remains a key challenge. Policymakers need to monitor these companies” David-West opined.

He also recommended that distribution companies should be restructured in a way that allows retailers to take part in the distribution process of electricity.

“Many distribution companies do not even know when consumers are not enjoying power supply. To ensure maximum distribution of the power generated in the country, there is a need to bring retailers into the play. This way distribution companies supply power to retailers who in turn make it available to consumers, these retailers should be the one responsible for billing and reaching out directly to consumers, we would be bridging a distribution gap doing so and winning the confidence of consumers while utilising what we produce more appropriately”

On what can be done in respect of the failing national grid and alternate supply of power, he expressed the need for Nigeria to diversify to other sources of supply to maximise its potentials and capacity.

“There is a need for Nigeria to diversify its source of supply, we need to encourage renewable energy sources. More Nigerians need to be brought into using alternate power sources. We cannot rely on just one source of power, we must diversify and have a blend of non-renewable/renewable energy  while addressing issues of critical infrastructures in the sector” 

David-West also advocated that there should be a licence for mini-grids that allows companies or industries who use a predetermined amount of power to be taken off the national grid to generate their own electricity. He expressed concerns that such efforts in the past had not been effective because distribution companies for instance do not want to lose such customers or revenue that accrues from them. He however reiterated that key decisions on the sector such as this 1 must be data and detail-driven through appropriate policies.

Another energy expert, Akintunde Babatunde, had told Dataphyte that Nigeria’s energy system challenge despite the abundance of renewable energy natural resources is regrettable. 

According to him, this inefficient use of renewable energy supplies is not expected for a developing economy especially as many Nigerians still rely on charcoal, firewood as energy sources. He also urged the government to develop a proper energy transition plan and create a conducive environment to attract foreign investment and partnership for the sector.

The Energy for Growth Hub has also urged the country to conduct power asset inventory and audit, complete the development of fourteen solar power plants, and introduce mini-grids into DisCos networks to supply electricity to underserved areas.

The hub also recommended utilising data analysis to effectively allocate power, conduct independent assessments of the power sector value chain, while studying energy demand to determine customer profiles.