LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE) has called on the Federal Government to conduct a comprehensive audit of all power infrastructure assets within the nation.
This directive was outlined in a communique issued by the institute and endorsed by its President, Felix Olu. The document was disseminated to journalists on Sunday following the conclusion of a one-day conference convened by the institute in Abuja.
This recommendation was made in light of the ongoing challenges with electricity supply across the country, despite the recent increase in electricity tariffs announced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for Band A customers.
On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced a tariff increase for Band A power consumers, raising the rate from N68 to N225 per kilowatt-hour. Despite Distribution Companies (DisCos) making efforts to maintain adequate supply hours for Band A customers, those on Bands B, C, D, and E have experienced prolonged power outages.
The institute emphasized that the challenges within the power sector are systemic in nature, necessitating a redesign of market regulations to tackle issues related to reliability and market imbalance.
Olu pointed out that the power sector faces issues like limited transmission capacity, poor service quality, and DisCos’ reluctance to accommodate loads.
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He said, “The problems within the power sector include transmission infrastructure capacity, inefficient quality service, as well as the unwillingness of DISCOs to accept loads, the private investor’s reluctance to invest in the power businesses and astronomical aggregated technical and commercial losses and technical auditing of all power infrastructure and assets in Nigeria (Gencos, Transco & Discos) must be carried out in earnest.
“There is no strict compliance on rule-based market design with strong penalties for defaulters, noting that the Electricity Act 2023 is silent on the handling of excess or insufficient power from the individual states and is not explicit on assigned roles for the Transmission Company of Nigeria.”
The communique also suggested that,
“Bottlenecks experienced in smart prepaid meter acquisition and deployment must be removed, including the engagement of local meter manufacturers just as the deployment of smart prepaid meters to customers, by meter asset providers, must be strictly in compliance with relevant statutory regulatory instruments.
“Also, technical auditing of all power infrastructure and assets in Nigeria (Gencos, Transco & Discos) must be carried out, just as the drastic reduction of distribution (ATC&C) and transmission losses to 10 per cent and 5 per cent respectively by 31st December 2024 should be achieved.”
He called on the government to establish a high-level technical committee to assess the unbundling proposal/policy and develop a practical, domestically crafted roadmap.
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“We also recommend that technical analysis of TCN unbundling should be handled by a team of experienced technocrats which must include engineers.
“The unbundling of TCN should commence after the states have all enacted their electricity laws, just as the bid for the unbundled entities should only be open to tested and seasoned investors.
“There should be regular stakeholder meetings between system operators, market operators, Gencos, Transcos, Discos and regulators while regulatory authorities should enforce compliance on their daily operations, the use of relevant codes, standards and regulations, in line with the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry requirements,” the NIEEE president said.