Power Sector News And Other Related Stories For Tuesday 19th July 2022
Power Supply to Drop Again, As TCN Shuts Transmission Substation
Power supply will drop by 50 megawatts on Wednesday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced.
The company, in a statement on Monday, said the drop would be as a result of planned annual “preventive maintenance” on the line bay at Lekki Transmission Substation in Lagos.
During the maintenance period, about 50MW will be interrupted, affecting power supply to Lekki phase 1, Oniru, Elegushi, Waterfront, Igbo Efon and Twenty-first Century Estate in Lagos state.
“TCN regrets all inconvenience this might cause electricity consumers in the affected area,” the statement said.
The announcement came on the heels of a promise by the Nigerian electricity Regulatory Commission to deliver atleast 5000MW of electricity to Nigerians starting from July 1.
Checks showed that peak generation as of 3:24 pm on Monday was put at 3, 967MW, while the lowest generation was 3, 539MW, according to statistics from the Nigerian Electricity System Operator, NESO.
https://hallmarknews.com/power-supply-to-drop-again-as-tcn-shuts-down-transmission-substation/
Benin DisCo Challenges BPE, Plans UK Legal Action
Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc has dragged the Bureau of Public Enterprises, an agency of the Federal Government, to a United Kingdom arbitration to challenge the takeover of BEDC by Fidelity Bank Plc.
It was also gathered on Monday that the UK’s ex-Prime Minister’s wife, Cherie Blair, who is the Chair of Omnia Strategy LLP, and Bode Olanipekun, of Wole Olanipekun & Co., were leading BEDC’s legal team.
Last month, the Federal Government announced the planned takeover of Kano, Benin and Kaduna electricity distribution companies by Fidelity Bank Plc after the bank initiated action to take over the boards of the three Discos.
It also announced through the BPE that with the takeover of Ibadan Disco by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, the bureau had obtained approval from NERC to appoint an interim managing director for the distressed power firm.
The government had further stated in its restructuring notice that it was restructuring the management and board of Port Harcourt Disco to forestall the imminent insolvency of the utility. The notice was signed by the Director-General, BPE, Alex Okoh; and Executive Chairman, NERC, Sanusi Garba.
https://punchng.com/benin-disco-challenges-bpe-plans-uk-legal-action/
PHED Gets New Managing Director
The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc (PHED) has appointed, Dr Benson Uwheru as it’s new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Until his appointment, he was a partner at Ernst and Young, a banking and capital market sector leader in West Africa.
He is also experienced in leadership, corporate governance, strategy, risk management and compliance.
Benson Uwheru replaced the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Dr Henry Ajagbawa, who has been appointed to manage the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEHD).
According to a statement issued by the company’s Head of Corporate Communications, John Anonyai, the new development is sequel to the restructuring of five DisCos in Nigeria.
He added that a new board had been constituted for the Port harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED), following the restructuring.
https://thewillnigeria.com/news/phed-gets-new-managing-director/
DisCos: A Takeover Long Overdue
SIR: The takeover of five ailing electricity distribution companies (DisCos) by the government and Fidelity Bank was long overdue. The distribution entities in Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Benin and Ibadan were taken over in what the government called restructuring. Government said it took the step to save the companies from insolvency, among other reasons. The announcement was precipitated by Fidelity Bank’s activation of the call on the collaterised shares of KEDCO, BDEC, and Kaduna Electric. The companies were said to have failed to repay loans obtained to pay for assets acquired in the 2013 privatisation exercise.
Earlier, Abuja Distribution Company had been taken over by United Bank for Africa for the same loan default. It must be clearly mentioned here that the remaining six are not different from the sick five.
It was glaring from the onset that the challenges of the power sector in Nigeria could not be adequately addressed by privatisation alone. Keen players in the Nigerian Electricity Services Industry (NESI) were sceptical in the run up to and in the aftermath of the privatisation processes. The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) in particular, had vehemently resisted the idea of privatisation and so downed tools on several occasions to force the government to back out of the plan.
https://thenationonlineng.net/discos-a-takeover-long-overdue/
Suspected Criminals Arrested by Police for Stealing, Vandalizing EEDC Cables in Ebonyi
No fewer than five suspected criminals were on Monday arrested by Ebonyi State Police Command over alleged conspiracy, stealing and vandalization of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, armoured cables in the state.
The Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State Command, CP. Aliyu Garba, made this known in a statement signed and issued to journalists in Abakaliki through the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Chris Anyanwu on Monday.
The commissioner noted that the suspected criminals, who hails from Inyimagu Amuzu community in Ezza South and Izzi LGAs, specialize in vandalizing and stealing EEDC armoured cables and assorted other electrical installations.
The suspected criminals, who were arrested by the police include; Onyekachi Igwe ‘m’ 35, Okemiri Michael, ‘m’ 33, Ogechi Umoke ‘f’ 21, Nwonu Ugochukwu ‘m’ 18, and Nwegu Ikechukwu ‘m’ 21.
The police boss stated further that: “The Crack Squad of Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested part of a syndicate of criminals who specialize in vandalizing and stealing EEDC armoured cables and assorted other electrical installations.
With Current 4,000Mw, Nigeria’s Plan to Grow On-Grid Power to 45,662Mw Remains in Doubt
Nigeria’s plan to generate 45,662 megawatts on-grid electricity by 2030 remains in doubt, with just eight years to the ‘magic’ year, given the current generation of 4,000Mw or less on some days.
Latest industry documents obtained by THISDAY indicated that if Nigeria is to experience a marked increase in supply today, it must grow on-grid power to at least 17,556Mw currently, although it is only able to achieve about 20 per cent of that for now.
For instance, the documents which provides an overview of the current state of the sector showed that available capacity of Generation Companies (Gencos) connected to the grid increased by a meagre 1,425Mw from 6, 175Mw since 2015, growing to just 7,600Mw in the last seven years. Going by that growth pattern, it could take over two decades to hit the projected 45,662Mw, given that the government has spent trillions to ramp up supply nationwide to even achieve the modest rise in capacity.
Electricity Update: Nigeria’s Power Generation Maintains Stability at 90.94gwh
Nigeria generated a total of 90.94GWh of energy on Monday, 18th July 2022, declining marginally by 0.08% compared to 91.01GWh recorded in the previous day. This is according to information from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
In the same vein, power supply decreased by 0.08% to 89.68GWh on Monday, from 89.75GWh sent out on Sunday. This implies that 98.62% of the total power generated was sent out to Distribution Companies.
Nigeria’s electricity generation and supply is still crippling below the minimum 105,000MWh of electricity required to record stable power supply in the country.
Energy generation peaked at 3,917.5MW on Monday, while off-peak generation was stated at 3,430.6MW. The highest frequency recorded during the day was 50.55Hz while the lowest was 49.98Hz.
Mojec Using Smart Metering Technology to Solve Nigeria’s Power Problems
The electricity industry around the world is moving to a digitalized system, which is a drive borne out of the increase in technology and human curiosity to probe and know the digital truth. Hence, the introduction of Smart Meters.
Smart meters allow users access to data that empowers them with the knowledge to make their choices. This includes the ability to decide and pay only for the energy used, or automatically know the equivalent value of electricity consumption.
For instance, in the UK, Electricity de France (EDF) is improving customer experience and cutting losses with its at-home display smart meter that shows customer energy usage almost in real-time. This means that users get to see how much energy they are using in pounds and hence, ultimately eliminate estimated billing, which has been one of the challenges facing Nigeria’s power sector.
Achieving these possibilities in Nigeria a few years ago seemed hard or nearly impossible considering the fact that most electricity consumers were still using analog meters, while some were not using meters at all but estimated billings.
Egypt’s Infinity to Become Africa’s Largest Renewable Energy Company
Egypt’s Infinity Group will become Africa’s largest renewable energy company when it, along with Africa Finance Corporation, acquires Lekela Power in an undisclosed deal that is expected to close this year, the parties said on Monday.
British private equity firm Actis and Mainstream Renewable Power agreed to sell their stakes of 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively in Lekela.
Lekela, founded in 2015, is Africa’s largest independent power producer.
The proposed acquisition includes Lekela’s 1-gigawatt portfolio of operational wind power projects in Egypt, Senegal and South Africa, and a 1.8-gigawatt pipeline of projects in development across the continent. It is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
“The acquisition of Lekela is a milestone for us at Infinity, as it not only becomes the largest such acquisition in the history of the continent, but also signifies the continuous growth and expansion of Infinity’s efforts to create a sustainable supply of clean green energy,” said Infinity co-founder and chief executive Nayer Fouad.
Africa’s installed renewable energy capacity is set to grow from more than 54 gigawatts in 2020 to more than 530 gigawatts by 2040, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Solar photovoltaic technology will rise to 340 gigawatts and wind to 90 gigawatts.
