TheNewsGuru

Tag: Electricity

  • Nigeria bids for nuclear power to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity

    Nigeria bids for nuclear power to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity

    Nigerian government hinted that it had opened bids to get approval for the construction of Nuclear power plants that can generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity to the length and breadth of the country.

    Dr Yau Idris, Director General, Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), made the disclosure while speaking at the ongoing Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja.

    Idris said: “It is wrong to think that Nigeria can’t manage a nuclear power plant.

    “There are mechanisms put in place that ensure any country can build a nuclear power plant.

    “Nigeria is trying to deliver 4,000MW of electricity through nuclear power. We are trying to construct four units and we are at the bidding stage.”

    He said Nigeria had been trying to diversify its energy sources since 1977, stressing that the additional 4,000MW would increase the country’s generation capacity to about 13,000MW.]

    According to him, the plant would be the largest power plant in Nigeria if the bids are successful and construction is completed.

    Idris said the regulatory agency has signed agreements with Russia, Pakistan, France and South Korea to build the capacity of its staff in manning the nuclear plants.

  • NERC to launch power outage reporting app

    NERC to launch power outage reporting app

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Wednesday said it would soon launch a power outage reporting application aimed at addressing complaints on power outages across the country.

    The Vice-Chairman, NERC, Dr Musiliu Oseni, disclosed this at the inauguration of Ogun Complaints Forum Office, located at Ibara Housing Estate, Abeokuta.

    Oseni said the development of the app would help NERC to ease and fast-track the process of reporting power outages and improving electricity supply in Nigeria

    “This is part of our efforts at leveraging on technology to address complaints on power outage,” he said

    He explained that the application would be integrated to the systems of the various electricity distribution companies (Discos) which would trigger alerts immediately power outage complaints were made by customers.

    “Already the app can be downloaded through Google Play or Apple Store.

    “The pilot scheme will start and be rolled out for Abuja customers in the next few weeks and it will thereafter be rolled out nationwide.,” he said.

    Oseni explained that the new Ogun forum office was the 31st office established across the country, adding that NERC planned to establish a minimum of one such office in each state of the country to enable electricity consumers to lodge their complaints to NERC.

    “The electricity sector is still fraught with a lot of challenges and some of them are beyond the control of the utility providers.

    “Some are systemic problems that require strong efforts and commitment on the parts of the policymakers, regulators and well-meaning Nigerians.

    “The commission wants to ensure that it performs its oversight function rooted in international best practices and without discrimination.

    “It is part of efforts to realise these aspirations that this forum office is being unveiled,” he said.

    “A five-member panel has been carefully selected from local communities in the state to adjudicate on any complaints brought to the forum.

    “The panel will consider each case based on already established rules and laws in tune with the Nigerian constitution and then deliver its ruling on the matter,” he said.

    He, however, explained that the first point of call for lodgment and resolution of complaints should be the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), which is the distribution company in charge of Ogun State.

    “Only when complaints are not resolved or satisfactorily attended to within two weeks are customers expected to escalate to the NERC forum office,” he said.

    The Chief Operating Officer of IBEDC, Mr. John Ayodele, in his address, noted that the development was a demonstration of NERC’s commitment to putting the customers first.

    Ayodele, represented by Deolu Ijose, Chief Commercial Officer, IBEDC, said the forum was in line with the firm’s goal of taking service delivery to higher heights through “customer-centric initiatives”.

    He encouraged IBEDC customers in Ogun to take advantage of various platforms created by the firm and the NERC to get their complaints resolved.

    “With over two million customers across our franchise of Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara and parts of Ekiti, Kogi and Niger, some customer’ dissatisfaction are bound to happen.

    “The push back from the Service-Based Tariff (SBT), capping methodology, general economic situation and the unrealistic expectations from customers who still consider power as a social service are factors that constantly generate controversies.

    “Hence, the need for the NERC forum office which will serve as an unbiased arbiter,” he said.

    Ayodele noted that over 134,000 of the 159,000 complaints received across IBEDC’s franchise in 2021 were resolved.

    He expressed optimism that the forum office will mediate over knotty issues and also help to educate customers on their rights and obligations

  • Just In: AMCON takes over Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company

    Just In: AMCON takes over Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company

    The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has taken over the assets of Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing (IEDM) Limited, the core investor of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

    In a public notice, AMCON stated that it had appointed Osayaba Giwa-Osagie to take over the entire undertakings.

    The takeover also include the assets of IEDM, including shares and interests in related companies and entities, in addition to the monies kept in of the 25 banks in Nigeria.

    Notably, AMCON executed the takeover of IEDM following a default in a loan servicing agreement executed with Polaris Bank.

    ”AMCON has pursuant to Section 48 and 61 of AMCON Act 2010 been appointed Receiver/Manager over all the Assets of Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Limited as stipulated in the instruments executed in favour of AMCON by virtue of the Loan Purchase and Limited Servicing Agreement executed with Polaris Bank Limited dated 30th November 2018 and a Notice of Appointment of the Receiver/Manager dated August 6th, 2021, which was duly stamped by the Commissioner for Stamp Duties,” the statement read.

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had previously fined IBEDC ₦50 million for ”its failure to secure a refund of an interest-free loan the board of IBEDC granted to its core investor group.”

  • Three neighbouring countries owe Nigeria N770m for electricity supplied in Q2 2021 – NERC

    Three neighbouring countries owe Nigeria N770m for electricity supplied in Q2 2021 – NERC

    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that three neighbouring countries did not make any payment for the second quarter of 2021.

    In its recently released Second Quarter Report 2021, the NERC revealed that the countries (Togo, Benin Republic, and Niger) and some other special customers were issued a total bill of N770m by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company and the Market Operator of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

    The report however stated that no payment was made, adding that it is hoped the outstanding will still be paid when things begin to look up for those economies, as the pandemic played a great role in the non-remittance experienced.

    “During the quarter under review, NBET and MO issued a total ₦0.77billion in respect of energy sold by NBET and services rendered by MO to the special (Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd and other bilateral customers) and international customers (Societe Nigerienne d’electricite – NIGELEC, Societe Beninoise d’Energie Electrique – SBEE and Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo–CEET).

    “No payment was made by these customers during the quarter under review. It is hoped that as the economy of these customers improves post-covid 19 lockdown they will resume the settlement of their bills in full,” the report read in parts.

    The Commission further stated that it has through the applicable orders set a minimum remittance threshold (MRTs) for each Disco having adjusted for their tariff shortfall.

    Adding that the inadequacies recorded within the period show that DisCos need to improve on their performance as none of them met the minimum remittance threshold.

    “Whereas the Discos were expected to remit ₦130.66billion (62.99%) to NBET in line with the minimum remittance threshold order, they remitted only ₦ 91.31billion (44.02%) out of ₦207.43billion invoice from NBET.

    “Therefore, DisCos’ remittance level, regardless of the prevailing tariff shortfall, was still below the expected MRT.

    “Necessary mechanism must be used to nudge the Disco into compliance with the MRT order to avoid a relapse to days of zero remittance from some Discos,” the NERC stated.

    The commission further disclosed that during the second quarter of 2021, a total invoice of ₦259.70billion was issued to the eleven (11) DisCos for energy received from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (“NBET”) and for service charge by MO, out of which a sum of ₦130.11billion was settled, representing remittance performance of 50.11%.

    This according to the NERC represents a 1.78 percentage point decrease from the final settlement rate recorded in the first quarter of 2021.

    Apart from Eko Disco, none of the other DisCos met their expected minimum remittance thresholds (“MRTs”) to NBET in the quarter under review.

    Overall, the total Disco remittance to NBET was 76% of the expected total for the quarter.

    As part of its inferences regarding the development, the NERC noted that one of the contributory factors to high ATC&C losses, and hence poor liquidity, is the non-settlement of energy bills by MDAs across the three tiers of government (i.e., Federal, State, and Local Government).

    In the commission’s opinion, an urgent resolution of the MDA debt challenge will improve the Disco liquidity and capacity to settle market invoices.

  • Geometric Power secures $50m for reliable electricity in Southeastern Nigeria

    Geometric Power secures $50m for reliable electricity in Southeastern Nigeria

    Geometric Power Limited has secured a US$50 million Term Loan facility in connection with the Aba Integrated Power Project to provide reliable electricity in the Southeastern region of Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the facility provided by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will finance the initial capital required to acquire rights to the Aba Ring Fenced Area for the project.

    It will also support the completion of remaining works, and the commissioning and commencement of operations of the Aba Integrated Power project in Southeastern Nigeria.

    TNG reports the Aba Integrated Power Project is a fully integrated generation and distribution utility located in Osisioma, Aba, Abia State.

    The utility comprises a gas-fired embedded power plant with General Electric Gas Turbines, with an initial capacity of 141MW, to be upgraded to its licensed 188MW capacity.

    The power plant will be owned and operated by the generation arm of the utility, Geometric Power Aba Limited. The distribution arm will be operated by APL Electric Company Limited and has state of the art infrastructure to curb any loss, including overhead lines and substations.

    Geometric Power Aba Limited also has a 27km dedicated gas pipeline and related facilities to provide reliable power at all times to its franchise area.

    The project has exclusive rights to supply power within a 4000km2 area, covering 9 out of the State’s 17 Local Government Areas.

    The deal was signed on 15 November 2021 in Durban during the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2021).

  • Nigeria to provide electricity to 5m households by 2030 – President Buhari

    Nigeria to provide electricity to 5m households by 2030 – President Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria is working on an ambitious Energy Plan towards reducing the energy shortcomings by year 2030.

    Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s spokesman in a statement late Friday evening, said Buhari spoke in line with Nigeria’s role as a Global Theme Champion for the Energy Transition, theme of the High-Level Dialogue on Energy on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

    The president said: “Nigeria’s commitment to a just transition is reflected in our ambitious Energy Compact, which includes the Government’s flagship project to electrify five million households and twenty million people using decentralized solar energy solutions.

    “This is a major first step towards closing our energy access deficit by 2030.

    “Nigeria’s commitment is also reflected in the development of our Energy Transition Plan, which was developed with support of the UK COP26 Energy Transition Council.”

    The Nigerian leader called for support from developed countries to unlock the financing needed to accelerate a just energy transition for all.

    “The focus of our discussions on transition must now evolve how we help countries develop detailed energy transition plans and commitments to mobilize enough financing to empower countries to implement those plans,” he said.

    According to him, the scale of financing required for Nigeria to achieve net-zero, amounts to over US$ 400 billion across the Nigerian economy in excess of business-as-usual spending over the next 30 years.

    “This breaks down to US$ 155 billion net spend on generation capacity, US$ 135 billion on transmission and distribution infrastructure, US$ 75 billion on buildings, US$ 21 billion on industry and US$ 12 billion on transport.”

    The president, however, said that gas would continue to have a big role to play before it is phased out, explaining that solid fuel cooking is still wreaking havoc in Africa:

    “As a global leader on the energy transition, it is imperative that I flag a major risk to development that stems from the current narrative around the energy transition, particularly on the role of gas and the lack of financing.

    “Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan has laid out our roadmap to reach net-zero and highlights the scale of the effort required, which includes the development and integration of renewables into current grid infrastructure at tremendous scale and electrification of all sectors.

    “This is challenging for any country, especially a developing country. On our development objectives, gas will have a key role to play here for some years before being phased out,” he said.

    President Buhari noted that these plans must also take into account, the provision of access to electricity and clean cooking solutions for those in Nigeria and around the world currently without access.

    According to him, an often-overlooked point is the essential role of gas in addressing clean cooking challenges.

    “Globally there are 2.6 billion people who lack access to clean cooking – which is unacceptable.

    “Even more concerning is that solid fuel cooking in Africa causes almost 490,000 premature deaths annually, making it the second largest health risk in Africa,’’ he further maintained.

  • Tariff hike: Electricity consumer group to monitor October bills

    Tariff hike: Electricity consumer group to monitor October bills

    The All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum (AECPF) says it will monitor the bills of customers for the month of October to ensure that there is no increment by electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).

    The group made this known in a letter to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Monday in Lagos.

    The letter, dated Aug. 30, and signed by its National Coordinator, Mr Adeola Samuel-Ilori, said electricity consumer groups were vehemently against any form of increment in tariffs by the DisCos.

    Samuel-Ilori noted that the group would continue to maintain vigilance even if given assurances by NERC and the DisCos that there would be no tariff hike based on past experiences.

    “We are of the opinion that your organisation is not oblivious of the provision of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005 as it relates to increase in tariff process and steps to be taken.

    “Let us reiterate that any increase in tariff announced without following such process as mandated in Section 76(1) and 76 (2) (b) and (f) will be resisted by the consumers, ” he said.

    According to him, this may involve protests or legal action against NERC and the DisCos in a court of competent jurisdiction.

    He said the DisCos had not met the provision for the tariff increment especially in investment in infrastructure upgrade to improve quality of power supply to Nigerians.

  • EKEDC explains power outage in Badagry

    EKEDC explains power outage in Badagry

    The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has attributed the power outage in some communities in Badagry to broken poles along the Badagry Expressway in Oko-Afo.

    The General Manager, Corporate Communications, EKEDC, Mr Godwin Idemudia, said on Tuesday in Lagos that the incident at Oko-Afo affected four electric poles and some equipment.

    “At around 1:46 p.m. on Monday, Oko-Afo 33KV feeder was faulty due to broken poles at Temole bus stop along the Badagry Expressway.

    “The incident which occurred affected four electric poles and other equipment of the company,” he said.

    Idemudia said the fallen poles had been removed and the company’s technical team was working hard to resolve the problem.

    He, however, assured the residents that electricity supply would be restored to the affected communities after the repairs.

    Idemudia said the affected communities in Badagry include Oko-Afo, Aradagun and Igborosun.

    “We are, therefore, appealing to customers to bear with us, as supply will be restored as soon as these repairs are concluded.

    “EKEDC highly regrets any inconveniences caused by this outage,” he said.

  • New electricity tariff hike will kill Nigerians – Reps

    New electricity tariff hike will kill Nigerians – Reps

    The House of Representatives has criticised the planned increase of electricity tariff, urging the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to rescind its decision.

    The call was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Representative Aniekan Umanah (PDP-Akwa Ibom) at plenary on Thursday.

    Moving the motion, Mr Umanah said that it was important to suspend the planned increase in view of the current economic situation in Nigeria.

    He said that NERC was established by the Electric Power Sector Act of 2005, with a mandate to license Distribution Companies (DISCOs).

    The rep said that the commission was to determine operating codes and standards, establish customer rights and obligations and set cost-reflective industry tariffs.

    Mr Umanah said that NERC, working with Distribution Companies, had increased electricity tariffs five times since 2015 saying that the latest being on January 1.

    According to him, in spite of the increase, Nigerians have not enjoyed significant improvement in power supply; instead they are daily grappling with epileptic services from the DISCOs.

    He said Nigerians had suffered unilateral exploitation in the name of estimated billing arising from non-metering of over 50 per cent of consumers.

    “Poor services by the DISCOs have impacted negatively on the socio-economic growth of the country as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Report of 2020 on Nigeria indicated that the manufacturing sector lost over 200 billion dollars to inadequate power supply while a whopping 21billion dollars was said to have been spent by Nigerians on power generation sets within the period under review.

    “The Nigerian masses have gone through so much hardship in recent times arising from acts of terrorism, banditry, kidnappings, farmers and herdsmen’s crisis with its toll on agricultural activities, displacement from ancestral homes, loss of loved ones, starvation arising from inability to return to daily occupation and loss of personal properties running into several million of naira.

    “Governments all over the world are adopting measures to cushion the devastating effects of COVID–19 pandemic on their citizens by providing a wide range of palliatives to those who suffered general distortion in their social life.

    “NERC is tinkering with the idea of a further increase in electricity tariff after that of January 1, in a country where 2/3 of the 200 million population is grappling with the crippling effects of the pandemic.

    “The purchasing power of an average Nigerian has drastically reduced, any further hike in electricity tariff at this time will amount to overkill, lack of empathy and height of insensitivity,’’ he said.

    The house mandated its Committees on Power, Poverty Alleviation and Labour, Employment and Productivity to ensure compliance.

    In a related development, the house adopted a motion and mandated the House Committee on Power to investigate alleged transfer of debts incurred by old electricity consumers to new users by DISCOs.

    Moving a motion, Representative Shoyinka Olatunji said that there were constant complaints by electricity consumers on the poor services by DISCOs.

    He said that consumers have also alleged that DISCOs were in the habit of transferring outstanding debts of old customers to new users of residential buildings.

    The rep said that the companies which were responsible for the collection of payments for services rendered to consumers, allow unpaid bills to accumulate.

    “Concerned that if nothing is done to curb the act of transferring debts incurred by other consumers to new consumers, the latter will continue to bear the burden of paying for the electricity they did not consume,’’ he said.

    In his ruling, the Deputy Speaker of the house, Rep Ahmed Wase directed the committee to engage the DISCOs and NERC with a view to find a lasting solution.

    Wase also mandated the committee to report back within two weeks for further legislative actions.

  • BREAKING: Blackout worsens as national grid collapses

    BREAKING: Blackout worsens as national grid collapses

    The national grid managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria suffered a collapse on Wednesday, worsening the electricity blackout currently suffered in parts of the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the collapse of the national grid occured at about 11:01 am and two electricity distribution companies in the country have confirmed the development.

    Head, Corporate Communication of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Abdulazeez Abdullahi confirmed the development in a statement.

    The statement reads: “Dear esteemed customers, we regret to inform you that the power outage currently being experienced across our franchise – Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states- is as a result of the collapse of the national grid.

    “The collapse occured at about 11:01 am this morning. Power supply shall be restored across our franchise as soon as the grid is restored by the Transmission Company of Nigeria team”.

    Meanwhile, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc also confirmed the development, by sending SMS notifications to its customers.

    The SMS notification sighted reads: “Dear customer, there is a partial system collapse on the national grid. Our TCN partners are working to restore supply immediately. Please bear with us.”