Nigeria’s power demand to hit 88,282MW by 2020

Nigeria has been estimated to require about 88,282 Mega Watts (MW) to meet the demand of its fast growing economy by 2020.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the nation should adopt alternative sources of energy to meet its energy requirement in the long run.

He said: “With an estimated yearly economic growth rate of between seven per cent and 13 per cent, as well as an urbanisation rate of 3.8 per cent, Nigeria’s electricity demand is projected to grow from 15,730MW in 2016 to 41,133MWby 2018 and 88,282MW by 2020 respectively,”

Amoda pointed out that Nigeria is endowed with fossil fuels and other renewable energy sources, but the energy situation is yet to be structured and managed in such a way as to ensure energy sustainability and development.

“The commitment of the government towards utilising alternative energy sources can be appreciated as we see more projects being implemented using solar and other renewable energy sources like biomass and wind,” he said.

The Eko Disco chief who spoke on the adoption of energy demand side management in Nigeria said: “The increasing role of demand side management energy efficiency and conservation and the huge benefit attached to it remain untapped by Nigeria due to mainly to lack of awareness,”

Giving the breakdown of how the nation’s electricity is being utilised in sectors, Amoda said residential customers consume about 60 per cent; commercial takes 24 per cent; industrial,12 per cent; special customers, 1.4 per cent; street lights, 0.6 per cent; and international customers consumes 2 per cent.

According to him, the increase in demand for electric power is noticeable in the residential sector due to increase in population, greater need for housing and rural electrification.

He also noted that the demand for industrial sector is difficult to estimate due to the fact that most of the medium to large scale industries rely heavily on self-generated power.