Industry experts have called for stronger collaboration, along with technical and financial alignment, to enhance power generation and expand the nation’s electricity grid. This is even as they stressed that the failure of successive governments to reform the power sector was a major hindrance to the sector’s transformation.

These experts, during a TV morning show monitored by The Guardian yesterday, stressed that tackling the nation’s electricity challenges requires coordinated efforts among consumers, and everyone involved in the value chain to get the job done.

The Executive Director of Research and Advocacy at the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan, emphasised the need to decentralise the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to establish regional grids and electricity management systems, similar to what has been implemented in Enugu.

He pointed out that other states are also making strides in this direction, suggesting that regional management could enhance efficiency and reliability in electricity distribution across the country.

Speaking on the technical and financial alignment needed to improve the sector, Oduntan said: “Technical alignment means if you are generating 10,000 megawatts, you must be able to transmit 10,000 megawatts, you must be able to distribute 10,000 megawatts. Financial alignment means for everything you do, you have to know the landing cost, it is the landing cost that determines the selling price and when you continue to undersell a product, you begin to cut corner and that’s why you see communities buying their poles, contributing money to maintain transform and I am bold to come out and say that sort of thing will continue until we have an alignment.”

Oduntan attributed the ongoing system collapses in Nigeria’s electricity sector to several issues including inadequate maintenance of infrastructure, insufficient investment in the power sector, and the failure of successive governments to implement necessary reforms over the years.

He emphasised that between 1989 and 1999, Nigeria’s population experienced significant growth, yet no new power plants were constructed during that period. He pointed out that in any normal country, infrastructure in the power sector would be developed in line with population increases.

He advocated an increase in grid capacity to at least 30,000MW to accommodate the nation’s growing population, pointing out that Nigeria, with over 200 million people, currently transmits and distributes only about 5,000MW, which is inadequate, as even 6,000MW would be insufficient for a population of 30 million.

He emphasised the necessity of maintaining a spinning reserve that can quickly respond to sudden spikes in electricity demand or unexpected outages. However, he pointed out that if there isn’t enough generation capacity, having a reserve becomes a significant challenge.

Chairman of the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC), Chijioke Okonkwo, noted significant improvements in electricity delivery to customers in Enugu. He highlighted that inadequate supply was costing consumers much more than their current electricity payments, referring to the expenses of self-generation.

He explained that generating one kilowatt-hour (kWh) with petrol or diesel costs approximately N500, which is double the rate Band A consumers currently pay. However, he emphasised that this does not mean Band A rates are not high.

“What we estimated on starting this journey is that over 500 megawatts was being self-generated by the citizens within the state and in self-generating, they are looking at either the use of generators that run on petrol or diesel. As of the time that this journey was started, petrol was between N650 to N750. Today, the price of petrol in Enugu is between #1,250 and 1,300 while diesel has gone beyond 1,750 to approximately 2,000.

On his part, President of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network (NCPN), Kunle Olubiyo, called for the immediate reconstitution of the National Grid Collapse six-member committee constituted by the Minister of Power.

Olubiyo expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the sector, highlighting the persistent grid collapses and unreliable electricity supply that continue to plague the nation.

He stressed that the committee should consist of consumers, industry experts, and stakeholders who can collaborate to ensure a more robust and stable electricity grid. According to him, the current structure lacks the necessary focus and technical expertise to address the recurrent failures.

“I was a member of the National Technical Investigative Panel on Power System Collapses in System Stability and Reliability in 2013, I represented the end user customers, but I was representative of the DisCos in this lopsided, laughable constituted committee. You don’t have a representative of the customer, It’s not a favour, it is a right because there can be no supply without demand and neither is the Nigerian electricity demand and supply industry. Demand comes before supply. So this committee is not properly constituted and it needs to be rejigged, you can’t have a committee that the licensee will be chairing the regulator, which is NERC. So the ministerial intention may be well intended, but it is wrongly delivered. If you want a job not to be done, give it to a committee, the committees are the real culprits in this case,” he said.

On the persistent grid collapse, Olubiyoemphasised that the minister isn’t short of ideas on the immediate solution, noting that the nation is running a 19th-century grid in the 21st century and the national grid lacks Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and system protected devices.