Poor power supply: Manufacturers explore energy saving options

With energy supply to industrial firms remaining inadequate to sustain production, manufacturers have concluded plans to explore energy saving initiatives while reducing wastes.

Indeed, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) through a Power Demand and Energy Consumption programme as well as the Energy Management System (EnMS) is exploring options to aid efficient energy use, as well as determine energy need of the sector.

Meanwhile, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has partnered the Nigeria Energy Support Programme (NESP), to review the minimum standards for low energy saving equipment in the country in order to effectively utilize the paltry energy supply from the national grid in the most efficient and sustainable manner.

The Director General, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu said currently in Nigeria, power supply is yet to meet the demand due to its very low capacity in generation, calling on the need to review the standards of energy saving equipment to help conserve energy and reduce wastage of power supply in the country.

At a validation workshop in Lagos recently, MAN President, Dr. Frank Jacobs said that the initiative, which is in collaboration with Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (giz), GmbH would help the sector to know its energy need and consumption.

“We don’t know how much energy we consume as manufacturers”, Jacobs said.

He disclosed that the initiative, which was necessary to reduce energy waste in the sector, would help the federal government in resolving inadequate power supply in the country.

Jacobs said that the association is putting its priority on energy since it is a very serious component in the manufacturing sector.

Jacobs urged stakeholders in the power industry to ensure that the value chain is run appropriately to improve the country’s power dearth.

Also, Head of Energy Efficiency Unit for NESP, Dr. Charles Diarra said that industrial energy efficiency measures would uncover the potential of wasted energy at low cost and increase the security of electricity supply.

Diarra lamented that though Nigeria has large deposit of fossil as well renewable energy resources, it has not been fully explored to facilitate sustainable development.

Speaking on the inevitability of the programme, Diarra stressed that there is need to identify and outline suitable intervention areas for sustainable development of the sub-sector.

“Industrial energy use in African countries is characterized by the rapid growing of the industrial sector of between 5.1 per cent and 7.3per cent through 2030. There is, hence, an opportunity to moderate use, increase industrial sustainability, improve competitiveness, and add more value to the product though a reduced energy intensity in the industrial sector”, Diarra added.

Odumodu who was represented by the Deputy, Director, Training Information Management Systems, SON, Dr. Justin Nickaf at a validation workshop for the baseline assessment of air conditioners in Nigeria, stated that the workshop being funded by the European Union is aimed at seeking for better and efficient usage of energy resources in the country.

“We are here to learn about what it takes to be energy efficient and how to ensure that it is cascaded down to the Nigerian people. The energy situation as it is, bearing in mind that we are in high demand of energy, which is produced in very low capacity and the fact that it is wasted is another big disadvantage, but with a programme like this and with Nigerians gradually adopting new energy efficient processes, we will be able to conserve the little that we are generating and will also be able to put to use more efficiently the little energy we have,” he said.

He however called on the federal executive council to pass the draft bill on energy saving appliance it presented to the house to law, saying that if it is legislated and there is a law that backs the bill, implementation and enforcement will be a lot easier.

“We are hoping that the bill gets accepted so that it can be passed into law. We are becoming very conscious about the utilisation of energy and we have to understand that this is a non-renewable resource, once you use, you have to generate to use it again. The little we are making should be used efficiently,” he said.

He said the agency is also conscious about the impact of the energy generation on the Nigerian environment, and urged all stakeholders to play a role in looking for better ways to sustain the environment in the most efficient and friendly manner.

He added that the use of energy saving equipment is very economical and would conserve the little energy generated in the country.

“It is for own benefit and in economical sensible because replacing a 200 watt filament bulb with a 4 watt energy saving bulb, you would have saved about 196 watts for each bulb and if you calculate that with the number of households in the country, it is quite a lot,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Head Electrical Electronics and Engineering, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Engineer Richards Adewunmi, said the workshop is a very apt considering how much the government has spent on energy generation.

He said that Nigerians must shift attention energy saving equipment, pointing out each time the federal government increases the megawatt in the country, there are always complaints of inadequate power consumption in the country.