Power Supply: Will Our Generators Be A Necessity in a Years Time?
- Laila Johnson
- Aug 16, 2015
- 4 min read
A heated topic that has sparked both happiness and upset in Nigeria over the past three weeks is the sudden improvement in the country's electricity supply. For many years now, generators have been a necessity, inverters have been seen as a wise investment and several citizens have been looking into alternative ways to provide electricity in their homes and offices through renewable energy sources.
In 2009, the Nigeria Electricity and Gas Improvement Project (NEGIP) was launched through the World Bank with the following objectives:
To improve the availability and reliability of gas supply in order to increase power generation in existing public sector power plants.
To improve the power networks capacity and efficiency to transmit and distribute quality electricity to the consumers.
This project was approved on the 16th of June 2009 with a total project cost of $200 million and the closing date for the project has been marked as the 31st of December 2017. However, the sudden trend in our electricity supply suggests that this project may not need to be executed for another two years.
Before discussing Buhari’s administration and the improvement in the power supply, it is important to discuss the ironic upset in Nigerian citizens. Many are upset because they are convinced that our refineries were sabotaged. Within the space of a month, there is almost 24/7 electricity in several parts of the country, which has lead to the demanding of explanations from the People’s Democratic Party, as to why we were cut short of electricity for several years. Does this mean that we could have had stable electricity all this while?
As the 5th largest oil producer in the world, it is disconcerting to know that we were only producing 155 kWh of electricity, which is 7% of Brazil’s consumption per capita and 3% of South Africa’s consumption per capita. The Nigerian government estimated that if the poor power situation was to have continued until 2020, the country would lose $130 billion every year. Not only is this figure overwhelming, but the long-term relationship between oil and electricity can also draw our attention to more astonishing facts:
In 2013, Nigeria was sitting on an estimate of 35 billion barrels of oil, which is enough to supply the whole world for a year.
The nation was also sitting on 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which suggests that we have not been fully efficient with our countries resources.
Nigeria is currently generating over 4600MW of electricity, which is a great improvement. Although we were said to have been producing 4000MW of electricity under Jonathan’s administration, pipeline disruption often dipped our production level to 2000MW. President Buhari has further acknowledged what he believes is a greater problem with our power supply – transmission. He stated that we need to secure the power infrastructure around the country, which will eventually boost our economic development. With a population of that is north of 170 million people, Nigeria is the largest nation in Africa. It is also the largest oil producer in Africa and accounts for 47% of West Africa’s population. Nigeria has further had strong economic growth over the past decade, with an average of 6.5%, but imagine how strong our economic growth could potentially have been all these years if we had stable electricity? Will the current increase in our power supply become constant around the nation? These are questions that have no definite answer, but if Buhari’s administration continues to supply a larger power supply across the country, Nigeria will definitely become more productive and more competitive on the world market. Many already see Nigeria as a threat to several developed nations due to our high economic growth, so imagine the potential that could lie ahead of the nation if our power supply continues to increase.
So, will our generators be a necessity in a years time? It is possible that they will, but there is no definite answer to this question. As a state owned monopoly, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that the PHCN offers all Nigerians access to the electricity grid. Furthermore, if our power supply continues to increase and we can improve the logistical support and technical advisory services, not only will Nigerian’s be able to save the money that is spent daily on petrol and diesel for personal electricity generation, our country will become more industrious, leading to a diminution in several concerns such as poverty, unemployment and eventually, corruption.
References:
Soleye, Timi. "Why Nigeria Generates So Little Power." . TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
"Nigeria Overview." . World Bank, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
"The Light Is Getting Brighter in Nigeria." . Adam Smith International, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
"Nigeria Does Generate More Electricity Now than It Did 15 Years Ago - Africa Check." . Africa Check, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
"Projects & Operations." . World Bank, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
Michael Burleigh for the Daily Mail. "A Country so Corrupt It Would Be Better to Burn Our Aid Money." . Associated Newspapers, 08 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
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