Power Sector And Other Related News Stories For Tuesday November 29th 2022
How off-grid electricity sustains Nigerian businesses, households
Homes, small businesses, hospitals and schools that are now connected to off-grid electricity supply in Nigeria such as mini-grids and solar systems have crossed the one million mark, OKECHUKWU NNODIM reports
More Nigerians, particularly those in rural areas and communities far away from the national power grid, are embracing solar home systems and mini-grids to meet their electricity needs.
Power supply from the national grid, aside being unstable, is abysmally low for the over 200 million citizens in Nigeria. The supply is never enough for city dwellers, much less residents in remote villages.
The country power generation has continued to revolve between 3,500 and 4,500 megawatts despite the fact that successor generation and distribution companies in the sector were officially privatised and handed over to private investors on November 1, 2013.
https://punchng.com/how-off-grid-electricity-sustains-nigerian-businesses-households/
Privatization: Stakeholders call for more investment into power sector as NPSA holds in Abuja
BARELY nine years after, stakeholders in Nigeria power sector have called for massive investment in generation, transmission, and distribution through privatization.The stakeholders, including experts and investors, noted that the sector still has a long way to go, especially in delivering adequate and stable supply to consumers nationwide.
Speaking at the just-concluded Nigeria Power Sector Awards, NPSA, in Abuja on Thursday, the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Infrastructure, Engr. Ahmed Zakari, said the government has already taken bold steps to address issues, which culminated in the sector increasing generation capacity to about 17,000 megawatts, MW, from about 13,000MW.“He said the feat could not have been achieved without much commitment from every stakeholder, stressing that teamwork would be required in moving the sector forward. Similarly, the former Minister of Power, Prof.
ELECTRICITY: Azura pushes for contract sanctity, targets 3,500mw
THE Managing Director of Azura Power, Engr Edu Okeke, has called for sanctity of contracts signed in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI.
Okeke, who made the call at the 2022 Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria, PCAN, workshop in Abuja, said respect for contracts would attract more investment to the power sector.
He explained that long term vision of the owners of the 461MW Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant (IPP) is to move output to 3,500MW.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/11/electricity-azura-pushes-for-contract-sanctity-targets-3500mw/
Stakeholders Seek Media Collaboration in Tackling Power Sector Challenges
Various stakeholders in the power sector have called for increased media collaboration in their efforts to tackle the electricity supply deficit in the country.
Nigeria, a country of over 200 million people still grapples with epileptic power supply, distributing less than 5,000mw to businesses and homes, in a country where at least 25,000mw is needed to have some level of stability.
Speaking at the second edition of the Obas Esiedesa-led Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PCAN) 2022 Annual Workshop, the experts maintained that there was the need to expand the knowledge base of the industry. The theme of the conference was Stable Electricity: Exploring a Contract Based Market in Nigeria.
$550m foreign loan drives Nigeria rural electrification program
With Nigeria said to have the largest number of people without access to electricity in the world, the Federal Government through the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, has stepped up effort to boost power supply to rural communities across the country with $550 million loans provided by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, AfDB.
Already, the Federal Government supported by the foreign banks, has set up the Nigeria Electrification Programme, NEP, for the execution of the projects.
The funding components are divided into $350 million from the World Bank and $200 million loan from the African Development Bank, AfDB.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/11/550m-foreign-loan-drives-nigerias-rural-electrification-program/
We won’t relent until we achieve stable power supply Ikeja Electric
Soetan stated this on the sidelines of the Nigeria Power Awards where Ikeja Electric bagged the “Most Gender Diversity Utility Company and Best Electricity Distribution Company in Nigeria.
This was even as the Executive Director, Sahara Group, and Board Chairman of Ikeja Electric, Mr. Kola Adesina, was bestowed with the Power Sector Lifetime Achievement Award in Abuja last week.
Ikeja Electric is an affiliate of Sahara Power Group, the largest privately owned vertically integrated utility group in Sub-Saharan Africa which operates the Egbin Power Plant (largest power generation station) and Ikeja Electric.
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/we-wont-relent-until-we-achieve-stable-power-supply-ikeja-electric/
TCN, NBET, others laud CBN’s $250m CBN intervention for Electricity Improvement
Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) and others have hailed the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) $250m Intervention Fund towards electricity improvement in the country.
It would be recalled that the fund is meant to urgently fix existing dilapidated infrastructure in the area of electricity distribution and transmission would enable the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to wheel more electricity on the short and enable distribution companies (DisCo) to procure and repair their key interface infrastructure.
Zimbabwe Blocked From Getting Power From Kariba Dam
Zimbabwe has been ordered to suspend power generation from its main source of electricity, the Kariba hydroelectric dam.
The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said water storage levels were too low for power generation.
It added that Zimbabwe had already used up its annual allocation of water for electricity, and It was eating into neighbouring Zambia share.
Kariba supplies more than 60% of Zimbabwe electricity. Meanwhile, its reservoir currently has 4% useable water or a quarter of last year levels.
Zimbabwe will only be able to resume generating power from Kariba in January.
https://www.tv360nigeria.com/zimbabwe-blocked-from-getting-power-from-kariba-dam/
UAE Plans $150 Billion Global Energy Boost
The United Arab Emirate main energy company, The Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), has said it would expand its international gas, chemicals and clean-energy operations. It is set to boost investment to $150 billion over the next five years, speed up an increase in oil-production capacity and list some of its natural gas business. The moves are part of a push by the company and the UAE to raise the output of hydrocarbons while at the same time neutralizing planet-warming emissions by 2050.
https://theelectricityhub.com/uae-plans-150-billion-global-energy-boost/
Kenya Power Addresses Nationwide Blackout
On Thursday, November 24, Kenya Power confirmed a nationwide power outage affecting various parts of the country. Kenya Power, in a statement, affirmed that the blackout was attributed to losing bulk power supply due to a system disturbance and assured Kenyans that its technical team was handling the issue to restore the situation.
Some Kenyans took to social media to express their displeasure over the utility outages even after adding more power to the grid from Ethiopia. @kienyeji_ com asked, operate a business that is dependent on electricity. Are we going to get refunds for the losses incurred? KPLC explained the widespread power outage experienced across several estates in Nairobi, stating that the interruption in power supply was caused by mechanical problems on several lines feeding the estates.
https://theelectricityhub.com/kenya-power-addresses-nationwide-blackout/
