Power Sector And Other Related News Stories For Thursday 13th October 2022
Power Firm Introduces Staff Screening to Check Impersonation
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company has unveiled a staff verification platform to check cases of impersonation of its workers in Abuja, Nasarawa, Niger, Kogi, among others.
It said the move became expedient following complaints by power users in the affected states about cases of impersonation of AEDC workers by some illegal individuals.
The Managing Director, AEDC, Adeoye Fadeyibi, announced this at the recent commemoration of the International Customer Service Week in Abuja by the power firm.
The special week is celebrated each year by businesses around the world within the first full business week of October. The commemoration of the customer service week is aimed at recognising the significance of good service along with those dedicated to providing it daily.
In his customer service celebration message, Fadeyibi said “The (staff) verification platform is coming as a result of several cases of impersonation which has exposed the company and customers to undue harm and mischief.
“However, with this initiative, customers can verify the authenticity of staff before granting (the staff) access to their premises.”
https://punchng.com/power-firm-introduces-staff-screening-to-check-impersonation/
FG Has No Plan to Sell TCN — Power Minister Insists
The Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu, has insisted that the Federal Government has no plan to privatize the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN.
The Minister in a statement by his media aide, Isa Sanusi, yesterday, urged the public to dismiss statements regarding “a non-existing plan to privatize the TCN”.
He said claims in the media that TCN, which is the only wholly government owned operator in Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, would be sold in the next few months were false.
“These reports are untrue and are only mere misinformation aimed at spreading panic in the power sector, which is making progress towards ensuring that Nigerians enjoy uninterrupted power supply.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria has no intent to sell or privatize the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and no one in the FGN has made a statement of an intent to sell TCN,” he said.
The Minister explained that TCN “is a centrepiece in the Federal Government of Nigeria’s efforts to rejuvenate the power sector. Therefore, the Ministry of Power working with key stakeholders is continuing to evaluate, assess and upgrade TCN to make it more efficient and transparent.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/10/fg-has-no-plan-to-sell-tcn-power-minister-insists/
National Grid Collapse: No Plan to Privatise Transmission Company, Says FG
Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, in Abuja yesterday, said the Federal Government will not sell the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
With a dark reputation for reoccurring grid collapse, TCN is a critical power sector segment linking the privatised generation companies with the partially privatised distribution companies.
Being the main channel through which electricity is wheeled to the nation, the performance of the company determines what becomes of the Nigerian electricity sector.
But speaking on behalf of his principal, Special Adviser to Aliyu on Media, Isa Sanusi, said there is no plan to privatise TCN.
He said: “The Federal Government has no intention to sell or privatise TCN and no one in the Federal Government has made a statement of intent on selling TCN.”
He said TCN is central to the government’s efforts to rejuvenate the power sector, adding that the government is rather working with key stakeholders to evaluate, assess and upgrade TCN, to make it more efficient and transparent.
No Plan to Sell Power Transmission Company – FG
The Federal Government, on Wednesday, said there was no plan to sell the Transmission Company of Nigeria and urged the public to dismiss statements regarding a non-existing plan to privatise the government-owned power firm.
It said this was in response to media reports and statements claiming that there was a plan to privatise TCN. According to the Federal Ministry of Power, some of the reports falsely claimed that the said privatisation was going to take place in the coming months.
“These reports are untrue and are only mere misinformation aimed at spreading panic in the power sector, which is making progress towards ensuring that Nigerians enjoy uninterrupted power supply,” the FMP said in a statement issued in Abuja by the media aide to the Minister of Power, Isa Sanusi.
The ministry added, “The Federal Government has no intent to sell or privatise the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and no one in government has made a statement of an intent to sell TCN.
“The TCN is a centrepiece in the Federal Government’s efforts to rejuvenate the power sector. Therefore, the Ministry of Power, working with key stakeholders, is continuing to evaluate, assess and upgrade TCN to make it more efficient and transparent.”
https://punchng.com/no-plan-to-sell-power-transmission-company-fg/
Kaduna Electric Increases Staff Salary
The new Board of Directors of Kaduna Electric has approved salary increase for staff across board.
The news of the upward review of salaries was contained in a statement by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Yusuf Usman Yahaya.
The statement said the Board of Directors deemed it appropriate and necessary to review staff salaries in view of the prevailing harsh economic climate in the country and in order to ensure that staff are well motivated to continue to work even harder for Kaduna Electric to achieve its goals.
The Managing Director said the increment will come into effect as soon as modalities for implementation have been concluded by the management.
He added that both the board and management under his leadership are committed to the welfare of employees and will strive to meet all obligations to staff.
He urged staff to reciprocate by doubling their work rate so that Kaduna Electric can meet remittance expectations of the electricity market.
https://independent.ng/kaduna-electric-increases-staff-salary/
Electricity Commission Builds Classrooms for Vulnerable Communities
Nigeria’s Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission, HYPPADEC, is currently building 30 blocks of classrooms in 10 vulnerable Communities across kogi state in North-Central Nigeria.
Kogi State Coordinator, Mrs Joan Oguche, announced this during a working visit to the education ministry, where she seeks for inter-agency collaboration to enhance the operations of the commission in the state.
The co-ordinator says the Projects are located in ten local government Areas (LGAs), where the commission provides interventions in educational infrastructure.
According to Mrs Oguche, the interventions were part of the mandate of the commission as an intervention agency of the federal government of Nigeria, to reduce the infrastructure deficit in the Hydroelectric Power producing areas.
kogi state is among the Hydroelectric power producing states in the north-central region with vast water resources for generating hydropower.
The Hydroelectric power producing states provide Hydroelectric power to the national electricity grid.
https://von.gov.ng/kogi-state-electricity-commission-builds-classrooms-for-vulnerable-communities/
Lack of Electricity, Internet Bane of Financial Inclusion
Lack of adequate infrastructures such as electricity, Internet service and others have been identified as the factors constituting setbacks to the actualisation of financial inclusion in Nigeria. It was said that over 38 million Nigerian adults remained financially excluded due to low internet penetration. The Chief Executive Officer, 9 Payment Service Bank (9PSB), Branka Mracajac, noted that there was need for both government and private sector to invest in infrastructures to enhance financial services driven by technology. She said the solution to bridge financial exclusion is to provide simple technology accessible by the average Nigerians.
According to her, strategic collaboration among stakeholders is pivotal to delivering the Central Bank of Nigeria’s vision for inclusion and moving the Nigerian economy from cashbased to cashless. “As much as we are a bank focusing on our social objective to close financial exclusion gap in Nigeria, driven by simple and accessible technology, we are also creating innovative solutions in order to offer banking to Fintechs and other players in the market who need the services to provide seamless customer experience.” While commending the Lagos State government for developing technology hub, Mracajac noted that the state manuhas to do more in the development of infrastructures.
https://www.newtelegraphng.com/lack-of-electricity-internet-bane-of-financial-inclusion/
Rensource Installs 5MW Solar at Baze University
Africa’s fastest-growing solar power company, Rensource, will install 5-megawatt solar on the campus of a private tertiary institution in Abuja called Baze University. According to Prince Ojeabulu, CEO of Rensource, the facility will offer renewable energy to those who live near the school.
The company will finish the first phase of the 5MW solar solution’s construction in the first quarter of 2023. The installation will produce more than 2,000 MWh of clean energy throughout the project’s lifetime, saving the university 3000 metric tonnes CO2 emissions.
“We are proud of this massive 5 MW project demonstrating Rensource’s’ ability to design, fund, and execute solar projects for C&I clients. Baze University and its students, including at the new world-class teaching hospital, demand reliability to power everyday learning in classrooms, and Rensource’s’ solar installation will provide that. We look forward to designing and funding similar projects for C&I clients that play crucial roles in Africa’s modern economy and society, like Baze University.” Mr Ojeabulu said.
https://theelectricityhub.com/rensource-installs-5mw-solar-at-baze-university/
Ethiopia Earns U.S.$13 Million Exporting Electricity to Sudan, Djibouti in Two Months
The Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) announced that Ethiopia had earned more than US$13 million from exporting electricity to neighbouring Sudan and Djibouti.
According to EEP, the amount generated was out of the planned US$18.55 million by supplying more than 349.56 million kilowatt hours of electricity to Sudan and Djibouti in the two months of the current Ethiopian fiscal year.
The state-owned utility has instead supplied 232.76 million kilowatt hours of electricity, cashing in 13.04 million US dollars, which amounts to 70.29% of the target.
112.36 million kilowatt hours of electricity was exported to Sudan for US$5.61 million, whereas 120.39 million kilowatt hours of electricity was exported to Djibouti worth US$7.42 million. The data shows that 12.29% more was exported to Djibouti than was the initial plan, whereas only 46.36% of the plan was sold to Sudan.
Empower Secures $74m to Provide Solar Energy to Businesses
Empower New Energy secures funds to expand its activities in Africa with $74 million raised from a consortium of impact investors. This was part of a funding round led by Climate Fund Managers (CFM), the manager of Climate Investor One (CIO). The Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (NORFUND) and the investment company Janeiro Energy AS also support the initiative.
The Empower investment platform was developed in collaboration with NORAD, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a financial tool run by the African Development Bank, is no different (AfDB). Empower plans to use this funding to supply more than 50 African businesses with solar energy. The business will also use the infrastructure created by CFM, NORFUND, NORAD, and SEFA during the following three years to invest an additional $100 million through loans.
In addition to battery storage devices, the company aspires to develop, construct, own, and operate more than 150 MW solar installations. According to Empower, its investments will produce 249 GWh of clean electricity annually while preventing 200,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions over the same time. According to Terje Osmundsen, founder and CEO of Empower New Energy. “In much of Africa, businesses tend to pay 25-50% more for electricity than elsewhere in the world.”
https://theelectricityhub.com/empower-secures-74m-to-provide-solar-energy-to-businesses/
EDFI Invests $2m in RDG Collective’s SHS Initiative
The European Union (EU) Electrification Finance Initiative (EDFI ElectriFI) invests in Zambia. The project is funded with $2 million for RDG Collective, a solar home systems provider based in Lusaka, Zambia, to boost RDG’s operations as it continues to grow following its launch in 2018.
The company, run by Rune Gunnar Dige, builds solar home systems for household electrification in rural Zambia. The company’s business plan was centred on the pay-as-you-go business model popular in the African solar home systems market to overcome the financial barrier. The EDFI’s specialized Zambia window, supported by the 11th European Development Fund for Zambia, gave RDG a $2 million convertible (equity) loan.
In close consultation with the local government, the EU representative, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the window was created expressly for Zambia (COMESA). RDG anticipates installing 50,000 solar household systems with EDFI assistance during the following six years, preventing 174,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions, according to EDFI’s calculations. Over the following six years, the provider of solar home systems hopes to electrify 250,000 people in Zambia, including those who get the OFMFA grant. https://theelectricityhub.com/zambia-edfi-invests-2m-in-rdg-collectives-shs-initiative/
Electricity Cut to More Than 40,000 Properties in Tauranga
Much of Tauranga is blacked out by an electricity fault that’s not likely to be fixed until the early hours of the morning.
National grid operator Transpower is investigating the cause of the outage.
Its principal adviser for stakeholders, Geoff Wishart, said crews were working to get people connected again.
“We seem to have lost supply to the Tauranga CBD and surrounding areas around about 9.45 this evening.
“Very many apologies to those people, consumers, who are without power at the moment.
“Our crews have only just got to site so they’re investigating equipment and hopefully they’ll be able to find the fault and get people back on as soon as possible.”
According to the website of the lines company Powerco, an outage at 9.40pm has affected up to 32,000 properties.
An outage an hour earlier has cut power to another 10,000 plus properties.
‘Accidental Fault’ Disrupts Electricity to Swathes of Southern Pakistan, Including Karachi
A major power breakdown took place on Thursday — amounting to 8,000 megawatts, according to the energy minister — depriving large swathes of southern Pakistan, including financial capital Karachi, of electricity.
The Ministry of Energy attributed the breakdown to an“accidental fault“ in the transmission system.
“Several power plants in the south are tripping in phases due to an accidental fault in the country’s southern transmission system. As a result, there have been disruptions in the supply of electricity to the country’s south,” the ministry said in a tweet following reports of power outages.
Later, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, in a press conference was hopeful that electricity would be fully restored “to normalcy” by tonight, and announced that power had begun returning to parts of southern Punjab.
He shared the preliminary findings of the circumstances that led to the breakdown. “This morning at 9:16am, our two 500kv lines in the south — Karachi — there was a fault in both of them. I am not calling it an accident yet, because an inquiry has yet to be conducted. […] there was a fault in them and they fell, as a result the country’s southern region saw an electricity blackout.
