Power Sector News and Other Related News Stories For Friday September 23rd 2022
‘How Nigeria Can Decentralise Electricity Access’
Stakeholders have insisted that unless Nigeria decentralise, decarbonise and digitalise electricity access, prevailing challenges in the sector may persist.
This is coming as the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) stated that the country must leverage mini grids in an attempt to find solutions to the challenges facing the national electricity grid.
Recall that the national grid, operated from Osogbo in Osun State, has been facing repeated collapse. Since privatisation of the power sector, the grid has collapsed over 140 times, a development which poses losses to electricity consumers, the generation and distribution companies.
While the nation had launched an energy transition plan to align with the global push towards net-zero, decarbonisation of the grid, which comprises less than 2,000 megawatts of renewable (hydropower) of the 12, 000 megawatts installed electricity capacity in the country, remained a concern for stakeholders.
Chief Business Officer (AEDC), Sani Usman, had noted that there was a need for utility companies to collaborate using modern technological solutions.
https://guardian.ng/business-services/how-nigeria-can-decentralise-electricity-access/
Ministry of Power Unveils Renewable Energy Policies for Power Sector
Nigeria’s federal minister of power, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu has unveiled four renewable energy policies to foster renewable energy growth in the country. He made the disclosure to power stakeholders during the Nigeria Energy Conference currently holding at Landmark Event Center, Lagos.
During a speech read by Temitope Fashedemi, the permanent secretary, the federal ministry of power, the minister said the present administration was working towards ensuring that Nigerians benefit from the right energy policies.
“We are developing regulations, policies, and setting up institutions to minimize challenges associated with investing in the power sector. In this regard, we are championing the establishment of affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for our growing population,” Engr. Aliyu says.
He outlined the four renewable policies as follows; national renewable energy and energy efficiency policy, national renewable energy action plan, national energy efficiency action plan and sustainable energy for all action agenda.
Consumers Paid N210.17bn for Electricity in Q4 2021 – NERC
ABUJA-ELECTRICITY consumers in the country paid N210.17 billion in the fourth quarter of last year out of N303.11 billion bill presented by distribution companies, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has disclosed.
The Commission in its fourth quarter 2021 report released yesterday also disclosed that the collection efficiency level of 69.34 percent was lower than the 70.89 percent recorded in the third quarter.
According to the report, the total billing by DisCos increased by N30.12 billion (+11.03%) while the revenue collected increased by only N16.64 billion (+8.60%).
It stated that the combined minimum remittance order, MRO, adjusted invoices from Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, NBET and Market Operator, MO to DisCos in 2021/Q4 was N210.72 billion for generation costs as well as transmission and administrative services.
“Out of this amount, the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of N149.19 billion with an outstanding balance of N61.53 billion; this represents a remittance performance of 70.80 percent during the quarter.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/09/consumers-paid-n210-17bn-for-electricity-in-q4-2021-nerc/
Electricity Consumers Pay N210bn in Three Months
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, on Thursday, said power consumers paid a total of N210.17bn to distribution companies in the fourth quarter of last year.
It disclosed this in its Quarterly Report for Fourth Quarter 2021 released on Thursday, noting that the N210.17bn represented 9.34 per cent of the total electricity bill given to consumers by electricity distribution companies during the period.
“The total revenue collected by all Discos in 2021/Q4 was N210.17bn out of N303.11bn billed to customers – corresponding to a collection efficiency of 69.34 per cent (70.89 per cent in 2021/Q3),” the regulator stated.
It added, “Compared to 2021/Q3, the total billing by Discos increased by N30.12bn (+11.03 per cent) while the revenue collected increased by only N16.64bn (+8.60 per cent), hence the reduction in overall collection efficiency in 2021/Q4.”
https://punchng.com/electricity-consumers-pay-n210bn-in-three-months/
ANED Identifies Energy Theft, Vandalism as Bane of Electricity Distribution in Nigeria
The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), yesterday, identified energy theft, vandalism as bane of electricity distribution in the country, while calling for a drastic end to the menace.
The association said energy theft and vandalism have impacted negatively on
the performance of distribution companies as well as the amount of energy distributed to electricity consumers.
The Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, ANED, Sunday Oduntan, made the call during an interaction session with electricity consumers within the network of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), held in Ibadan.
The session, with the theme: ‘Building Consumer Awareness and Strengthening the Customer Service Capacity of Electricity Distribution Companies’ was supported by the MacArthur Foundation.
EEDC Apprehends 8 Vandals
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has apprehended no fewer than eight suspected vandals for their alleged involvement in stealing electrical installations belonging to it.
The Head, Corporate Communications of EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, said in a statement on Thursday that the vandals were apprehended within one month in different states under its network in the South East.
Ezeh also attributed the service disruptions experienced in some parts of its network to activities of vandals; adding that the increasing rate of vandalism had adversely affected the company’s service delivery to its customers.
He, however, commended the support of critical stakeholders and the various vigilance groups in nipping this ugly trend in the bud, while he confirmed that most of the arrests were made by the vigilance groups.
According to him, this recent citizens’ arrest of vandals can be attributed to the consistent engagement with stakeholders on the need to ensure that the electrical installations sited within their neighbourhoods are protected.
https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2022/09/22/eedc-apprehends-8-vandals/
Again, Electricity Workers Threaten to Shut Down National Grid
Again, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have threatened to shut down the national grid if the federal government fails to meet their demands soon.
They said the two weeks given to resolve the crisis had elapsed.
At a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, the zonal organising secretary, North West of NUEE, Comrade Dukat Ayuba, said while negotiations were still on going, the shutting down of the national grid hangs.
The workers had on August 12, 2022, shut down the national grid to draw the government’s attention to their plight.
Ayuba lamented that the so-called privatisation of the sector was a scam because nine years after the taking over by investors, nothing had changed.
“That was why, we kicked against privatising the distribution sector because, the investors don‘t have the capacity and expertise. As committed Nigerians we advised the government against it. But the government was hell bent on doing so.
https://leadership.ng/again-electricity-workers-threaten-to-shut-down-national-grid/
Electricity Workers Threaten to Shut Down National Grid Again
Again, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has threatened to shut down the national grid if the federal government failed to honour their demands.
The aggrieved workers said the two weeks given to resolve the crisis have elapsed.
The zonal organizing secretary, North West of NUEE, Comrade Dukat Ayuba said that while negotiation is still ongoing, the shutting down of the national grid still hangs.
“The so-called privatization of the sector was a scam because 9 years after being taken over by investors nothing has changed,” they alleged.
“That was why, we kicked against privitazing the distribution sector because the investors don’t have the capacity and expertise. As committed Nigerians we advised government against it. But the government was hell-bent of doing so”.
” The investors are still operating with obsolete equipment dating back to 35, 40, and 50 years. One will expect that with the coming of the investors they will replaced this obsolete equipment but nothing has been done.
The union said the nation still generates 5,000 megawatts of electricity.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/09/electricity-workers-threaten-to-shut-down-national-grid-again/
Agusto Tasks Govt on Energy Diversification, Renewable Adoption
With an unmet energy demand of about 20,000 megawatts (MW), a global research firm, Agusto & Co, has charged the Nigerian government to use policies and incentives to drive innovation in renewable energy technologies in order to diversify its energy sources.
The firm notes that while grid-connected electricity supply remains the cheapest source of power in Nigeria, it is not always economically efficient to construct gas pipelines and/or transmission cables to some remote villages with very little demand for electricity.
Nigeria’s current energy mix is heavily skewed towards gas, with 23 thermal plants contributing 76 per cent of the total installed generating capacity. However, years of underinvestment in the domestic gas market as a result of price controls, regulatory obstacles and pipeline vandalism have put question marks on the commercial viability of gas supply to the power sector.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewables will account for about 95 per cent of the increase in worldwide power capacity by 2026, with solar photovoltaics (PV) alone accounting for more than half of the anticipated expansion.
Metered Electricity Customers Rise to 4.96 Million in Q2 2022, Says NBS
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that over 4.96 million electricity customers were metered in Q2 2022 while more than 4.79 million were metered in Q1 2022, indicating a 3.53 per cent increase on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
On a year-on-year basis, according to the report, there was growth rate of 10.71 per cent and 9.54 per cent in Q1 and Q2 2022, respectively, when compared to 4.33 million recorded in Q1 2021 and 4.53 million in Q2 2021.
Similarly, estimated customers stood at 5.84 million in Q1 2022 and 5.85 million in Q2 2022, showing an increase of 0.14 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. On a year-on-year basis, estimated customers declined by 9.45 per cent in Q1 2022, and 10.45 per cent in Q2 2022 when compared to 6.45 million in Q1 2021 and 6.53 million in Q2 2021.
Electricity supply in Q1 2022 stood at 5,956 (Gwh) and 5,227 (Gwh) in Q2 2022, showing a decline of 12.23 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, Nevertheless, on a year-on-year basis, electricity supply declined compared to 6,172.19 (Gwh) and 5,882.57 (Gwh) reported in Q1 2021 and Q2 2021 respectively. Revenue generation by the DisCos stood at 204.74 billion in Q1 2022 and 188.41 billion in Q2 2022. This shows a fall on a quarter-on-quarter basis by 7.97 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, revenue collected rose by 11.42 per cent and 1.71 per cent respectively from 183.74 billion Q1 2021 and 185.24 billion in Q2 2021.
